we talked to a couple of people on a tour, and that they were very happy to be there. with nbc news,th the special for cnbc, marijuana in america, colorado pot russia re-airs tonight and friday as well. thank you for your time. appreciate it. coverage of the house coming in for the legislative session. we will be back tomorrow morning 7:00 eastern time. the chair lays before the house a communication from the speaker. the clerk: the speaker's room, washington, d.c., february 27, 2014. i hereby appoint the honorable bradley byrne to act as speaker pro tempore on this day. signed, john a. boehner, speaker of the house of representatives. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the order of the house of january 7, 2014, the chair will now recognize members from lists submitted by the majority and minority leaders for morning hour ebate.

the chair will alternate recognition between the parties with each party limited to one hour and each member other than the majority and minority leaders and the minority whip but in to five minutes, no event shall debate continue beyond 11:50 a.m. the chair recognizes the gentleman from illinois, mr. giths, for five minutes. -- mr. gutierrez, for five minutes. before i begin, i'd like to enter into the record this article written by reverend ethan castillo who wrote an article that appeared tuesday entitled "god often reminds us to welcome the stranger." mr. speaker, yesterday i participated in another do-nothing judiciary committee hearing of the do nothing

congress but this goal was to make sure that the president was a do nothing president as well. it's not enough for the republican majority to be setting records for how little they're doing. no, ignoring immigration reform is bad enough, let alone minimum wage, unemployment benefits and the environment. so the do nothing congress held a hearing yesterday entitled enforcing the president's constitutional duty to faithfully execute the law. the intent was clear, attack the president. and it was held in the judiciary committee which has your diction over immigration. here was lots of discussion. this is where the president has power to temporarily suspend the deportation of people who came here to the u.s. as children. apparently when the president stood just over there last month and delivered his state of the union address saying he would use his pen and phone to take executive action where the congress was taking no action,

well, they didn't go over well for this do nothing cock. look, i know it's easy for republicans to blame obama and why they can't do reform this year. but you have to keep it connected to reality. you put your principles for immigration reform on the table. you call them standards, and there was some things i liked and some things i didn't. but what i said was, good, thank you, it's a nice start. let's sit down and talk some more. nancy pelosi and the leadership of the democratic rank and file said, good, great starting point. let's talk some more. and the president you don't trust said, good, that's a great starting point. let's negotiate. and how did the republicans respond? when democrats said, yes, let's talk, the republicans said, no, just kidding. immigration reform is hard. we'd rather just talk about how awful it is that people are getting health care through

obamacare. you put something on the table, we say let's talk and you say no. and then blame democrats for blocking immigration. it makes no sense. and questioning whether the president has the power to stop the deportation of immigrants who came here as children and who have lived here practically their whole life in the u.s., what are you thinking? the president not only has the power to suspend those deportations, he has the duty to suspend those deportations. so here we are with the entire country demanding reform of our immigration system, demanding change of our laws. we see the parents of u.s. citizen children being deported and their children put in foster care and we say there's got to be a better way to handle the situation, that it's good for the taxpayer, good for the immigrant family, good for our economy and national security. but house republicans see the situation and apparently say no. we refuse to change the law because it's hard and we don't trust the president. and because the law is the law,

we must deport them all. and when i and anyone else with a conscience looks at that american child being put in foster care because we have deported his parents and looks at you doing nothing, we say something has to be done. it's the right thing to do from a moral perspective. so let me be clear. mr. president, if you act to suspend the deportation of a person whose american child will be put in foster care, i will applaud you and almost everyone on this side of the aisle. but it will not only be us applauding. the three evangelical leaders who wrote the essay i entered into the record, all three important religious leaders from spartanburg, north carolina, this is how they put it. immigration reform is an urgent need. action carries a profound human cost and we consistently see this in our ministry. hardworking, contributing members of our society live in constant fear of deportation.

the victimization of individuals and families goes unreported and families are torn apart as american citizen children whose one or both of deported. ts are our broken antiquated immigration reform has precipitated into an economic and moral crisis that we can no longer -- that we can ignore no long. listen to your church elders. while you do nothing, the number on the board behind me continues to increase and the deportation machine continues. if you don't, i and millions of others across this land will continue insisting that the president exercises his authority to stop deportation and separation of american families. we will force the president to act and i assure you we will win that fight.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new jersey, mr. lance, for five minutes. mr. ance: thank you, speaker. this week we recognize the work of the tireless advocates for rare diseases. i have the honor of serving as the republican chair of the congressional rare disease caucus. i consider it a very important responsibility as part of my service here and in honor to -- and an honor to work for new innovative treatments, new technologies and to build an atmosphere of appreciation and understanding on capitol hill of the hard work of all the patient advocates. their passion is often driven and care of loved ones, their personal stories are profiles encourage. hearing from countless advocates, many of whom are

here in washington this week, gives the members of the caucus renewed energy and purpose. events held during rare disease week highlight what has been accomplished and what still needs to be done and there is a lot to do but we will do it together. i am working on important legislation in this area, the bipartisan modernizing our drug and diagnostic evaluation and regulatory network, or modern cures act, that will update the nation's drug evaluation process to encourage the discovery and development of new treatments for chronic and rare diseases. the measure will also create a system that rewards efficiency and defectiveness to the benefit of all persons with rare diseases. the modern cures act will encourage the development of

drugs abandoned in the development process. it will create a new category of drugs known as dormant therapies for compounds with insufficient patent protections, drugs that offer the promise to treat conditions with unmet medical needs. updating regulatory networks, such as patent reform, will help open the pipeline for new innovations and therapies. patients with degenerative conditions, cancers and rare diseases await the genius of these new solutions. while we do not know the cause or cure of many of these rare diseases or cancers, we do know that awareness is the best protection, information is the best tool for innovation and well-rounded care during and after treatment is the best therapy. that is our mission in the caucus, to work together to find solutions that make a

lasting difference. i again thank the families and advocates whose challenges we may never completely understand but whose commitment to their loved ones is unyielding and inspiring. the caucus pursues its mission in their name. thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the chair recognizes the gentleman from maryland, mr. cummings, for five minutes. mr. cummings: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i rise today to recognize national children's dental health month, and it's a critical part of the overall health. it's also an issue frequently overlooked. too often we think of dental care as an optional service when in reality the critical component of overall health. its importance first hit home for me seven years ago when i learned a story of a young boy named diamonte driver.

in february, 2011, the 12-year-old came home from school as a headache which started as a toothache days before. his month, who worked hard to make ends meet with low-paying jobs, searched for a dentist who would accept medicaid for her children. she found not one dentist -- let me say that again. she found not one single dentist who would care for her children's teeth. diamonte d dei -- took him to the emergency room where he received medication for pain, a dental abscess. unfortunately that was not enough. the bacteria from his cavity spread to his brain, and at 12 years old he died for lack of a simple procedure early on to

remove a tooth. he died less than 20 minutes away from where we stand today. his case served as a jarring lesson on the lack of access to care for many families. at the time of his death, fewer than one in three children under the age of 20 in maryland's medicaid program received any dental service at all. but in the years since, with the passage of the affordable care act and new efforts to ensure healthy america, we made significant progress in maryland and across the country. in other words, we have changed the trajectory of so many children's destinies. 52% of children on medicaid in maryland now receive dental services. even as the number of children enrolled increased by 20%. in fact, through the work of

maryland's general action coalition, the state has led the way in increasing access to dental care for children. nationally the number of children enrolled in medicaid who received dental care in 2010 jumped to 46%, numbers that suggest progress but also signals the work left to be accomplished. the implementation of the affordable care act has made a difference, allowing millions more children to receive critical medical and dental care right now. even more children could access these services if republican governors in some states reverse their decisions to block the expansion of medicaid. i've often said that our children are the living messages we send to a future we will never see. yet, even with the improvements we've seen, more must be done to ensure that both children and adults have access to needed treatment and preventive care. that's why i introduced the compe hencive dental reform act. my legislation would provide funding to improve access to dental care through health

clinics, school-based services and other options for underserved populations, extend comprehensive dental coverage to americans on medicare, medicaid, v.a. benefits, increase the number of oral health professionals in communities in need and help support research and education to better integrate oral health with regular care. we've come a long way but more must be done to protect the dental health of our children and every american. if we can ensure that no child loses his or her life because a dentist couldn't be found to pull a tooth, diamonte's death wouldn't be in vain. with that, mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back his time. the chair recognizes the gentleman from california, mr. mcclintock, for five minutes. mr. mcintyre: -- mr. mcclintock: mr. speaker, one week ago -- actually two weeks ago now, president obama visited the drought-stricken

central valley of california. he announced his administration's response. he wants to spend another $1 billion to study climate change. well, i think i can save him the trouble. the planet has been warming on and off since the last ice age when glaciers covered most of north america. the climate has been changing since the planet formed. until the planet begins moving into its next ice age we can reasonably expect it will continue to warm on and off. that's going to mean less water that can be stored in snowpacks and therefore more dams will need to be constructed to store that water. there. i just saved $1 billion. you're welcome. everyone thinks that the colorado river is the mother lode of all water in the western united states, but the colorado river is a junior city to the mighty sacramento river system. the difference is this, we store 70 million acre-feet of

water on the colorado and only 10 million acre-feet on the sacramento. the rest is lost to the ocean. . droughts are nature's fault. they are beyond our control. but water shortages, on the other hand, are our fault. we have not built major water storage on the sacramento system since 1979 because of opposition from the environmental left and most recently from this administration. we have had to fight back against its attempts to tear down perfectly good existing dams, including four hydroelectric dams on the can kalamath.clam math -- devastating the economy, drying up a quarter million acres of fertile farmland, and throwing

thousands of california families into unemployment. because of opposition from the environmental left, we have been unable to even raise the spillway of the exchequer dam by a lousing 10 feet in order to add 70,000 acre-feet of storage at like mcclure. because of radical environmental regulations, 800,000 acre-feet of desperately needed water, that's a one acre column of water, 150 miles deep, was drained from shasta and fulsome lakes last fall knowing full well that we were heading into a potentially catastrophic drought. governor brown proposes to spend $14 billion for cross delta tunnels that will produce exactly zero additional storage and exactly zero additional hydroelectricity. yet for a fraction of that cost, roughly $6 billion, we could complete the shasta dam to its

design elevation which would mean nine million acre-feet of additional water storage, nearly doubling the storage capacity of the sacramento river system. everyone's seen the eerie pictures of fulsome dam as the lake lies almost completely empty. for just a few billion dollars, we could complete the auburn dam up river of fulsome that would hold enough water to fill and re fill fulsome lake 3 1/2 times. that's enough for 400 year flood protection for the sacramento delta. the billions we are currently spending on delta levee repairs is to protect against a 200-year flood. both projects have been stalled for decades because of environmental opposition. enough is enough. mr. speaker, we are at a crossroads and it is time to choose between two very different visions of water policy. one is the neolistic vision of the environmental left.

increasingly severe government induced shortages, higher and higher electricity and water prices, massive taxpayer subsidies to politically well connected and favored industries, and a permanently declining quality of life for our children who will be required to stretch every drop of water and every watt of electricity in their dark homes. a new era of cheap hydroelectricity, great new reservoirs to store water in wet years to assure abundance in dry ones. a future which the -- future which families can enjoy, and the quality of life that comes from the prosperity. it's a society whose children can look forward to a green lawn, a backyard garden, affordable air conditioning in the summer and heating in the winter. brightly lit homes and cities, and abundant and affordable groceries from america's agricultural cornucopia.

this is a time of choosing. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from alabama, ms. sewell, for five minutes. ms. sewell: thank you, mr. speaker. in continuing my commitment to honoring african-americans from alabama during this black history month, today i rise to honor the renowned educator, pastor, and civil rights activist, reverend dr. frederick douglass reese on this occasion of black history month, 2014, for his dedication and distinguished service to the city of selma and the state of alabama, i pay tribute today to the life and work of reverend dr. f.d. reese. this beloved pastor and civil rights activist marched across the edmund pettus bridge in selma, alabama, in 1964, along with hundreds of other supporters. by the mid 1960's, reese was president of the dallas county voters league and was also a local teacher who presided over the selma's teachers

association. discouraged by selma's efforts to hinder voter registration for african-americans, reverend reese advocated and the teachers he pressed to make sure that the student actually went to register to vote. reese invited reverend dr. martin luther king jr. and members of the sclc to lead selma's voting rights protests. king's staff helped organize months of demonstrations in selma with ref friend reese's assistance. reverend reese, the historical figure of modern history, known for his support of the civil rights and voting rights movement, reverend reese rose to national prominence as a civil rights leader after selma's bloody sunday. he later marched with dr. king from selma to montgomery as an advocate of voting rights. reverend reese was born november 28, 1929. he believed in education. reverend reese graduated from alabama state university and livingston university and also

attended southern university, the university of alabama, and auburn university before receiving his doctorate ofdy vinity from selma university. reverend reese has served the community faithly for over 60 -- six decades. and his exemplary work and commitment to social justice is well-known. notably reverend reese has never left his beloved community of selma where he helped to make it a center for voting rights movement in the 1960's. he remains active today. and he is none for -- known for saying his fight today is to get young people to realize that the movement is still continuing. i tell young people, he said, that they cannot rest on our victories. we have to remain committed. that means registering to vote and participating in what this country has to offer. that means making a difference to others. reverend reese has stated that he marched so that everyone, regardless of color, could become a first class citizen in

america. reverend reese knows that you have to stand for what you believe in. he he became nationally known for his beliefs and inspired others to stand as well. reverend reese has remained committed to education and service. he became a principal in selma as well as a city councilmember, serving for over 12 years on the selma city council. he also ran for mayor in 1984 and led a campaign to motivate wal-mart executives to hire african-americans as store managers. in 2000, he was honored by the civil rights -- for his civil rights work by having a stretch of he three miles of highway -- u.s. highway 80 which was where he led the montgomery to selma march named after him. it is now known as the frederick doug last reese markway. the f.d.r. christian academy in indiana is also dedicated to him. he's a pastor of ebenezer baptist church since 1965. although he's retired from

teaching, he is still very much active in ebenezer baptist church where he serves as the head minister emeritus and delivers a sermon each and every week. on behalf of the 7th congressional district, state of alabama, and this nation, during this black history month, i ask my colleagues to join me in acknowledging and celebrating the accomplishments of reverend dr. frederick douglass reese from selma, alabama. thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from georgia, mr. broun, for five minutes. mr. broun: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, as the truth of obamacare continues to come out, we see that the promises of this administration are just not factual. obamacare's crushing our economy. it is killing jobs. and it's hurting hardworking americans and family businesses the most.

there is a solution. it's called the patient option act. h.r. 2900. it repeals obamacare in full, and it replaces it with free market, patient centered reforms. the patient option act is a set of reforms that will revitalize american health care. not through government interference, but giving doctors and patients full control over their dollars and their decisions. in fact, it is the only health care plarnl that -- plan that completely removes bureaucrats from everyone's personal health care decisions. the association of american physicians and surgeons has endorsed the bill. and now freedom works is standing behind the option act as well. in fact, freedom works said, quote, the option act stands as the best conservative health care reform package yet

released. and it should be considered for a vote as the house votes on alternatives to obamacare. while obamacare continues down the path of destruction and failure, the option act stands ready to provide health care relief that the american people want and need. the patient option act will make health i shurens -- insurance cheaper for everyone so that most americans can buy health insurance that they need at a price that they can afford. it will provide access to good quality health care for all americans. no matter what a person's financial status is. or even if they have pre-existing conditions. and it will save medicare from going broke. i urge the vote -- i urge the house to vote on the patient option act so we may put the final nail into the coffin that is obamacare.

and move towards real patient centered care. i urge the american people to contact their congressman and senators to co-sponsor the bill and demand from leadership a vote in the u.s. house and the senate on the patient option act. through the voice of we the people, the strongest political force in america, we can repeal obamacare and replace it with true health care reforms that will make health insurance more affordable and accessible for everyone. i hope that the american people and my colleagues will look towards the option act as an example of what real patient centered health care and insurance looks like. and bring this bill before the house and the senate for a vote immediately. mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from georgia, mr. johnson, for five minutes.

mr. johnson: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i rise today to call attention to the continued imprisonment of journalist in egypt and to restrictions on press freedoms worldwide. al jazeera, the news network, has called today, thursday, february 27, press freedom day. reporters in more than 30 cities around the world, including in washington, d.c. and san francisco, are holding vigils to remember all the journalists currently at risk from governments that restrict the most valuable of international rights, the right to a free ress and to freedom of speech. military-led government of egypt

has engaged in wholesale repression of the media, especially outlets thought to be sympathetic to the muslim brotherhood since overthrowing president muhammad morsi in june, 2013. this repression culminated with the arrest of three al jazeera employees on december 29 of 2013. on that day egyptian authorities arrested three employees of al jazeera and accused them of spreading lies harmful to state security and joining a terrorist group. another 20 journalists were prosecuted this year for, quote, airing false news among other apparently meritless charges. today four al jazeera reporters are currently being detained in egypt in the prison compound for their reporting in egypt.

they are charged with being members of the organizations on which they were reporting. a charge that al jazeera and other international media organizations and press protection groups have rejected. al jazeera's english nairobi based correspondent, muhammad, their senior producer in egypt and ba her muhammad -- bahir muhammad, their producer in egypt, are all being held in one small cell in egypt at that prison under very difficult, and to put it gently, spartan conditions. . they have been detained since december 29. i have been separated but

would thank the egyptian authorities for at least bringing them together so that they can at least lean on each other for support. abdullah al-shammi, the al-jazeera correspondent, has been held and has been on a hunger strike, protesting his detention since january. their families in australian, canada, egypt, they're working tirelessly for their freedom. i can emphasize with the fear and concern that their families face each day, worrying about approximate the physical and mental health of their loved ones. locking up reporters has never stopped the world from finding out what is going on in a country, particularly in this modern world. egypt is a proud nation with a proud history and has been a longtime ally of the united states of america. the egyptian people, regardless

of which government party or individuals they support, have made it clear their choice is one of democracy and freedom. for those goals to be achieved, freedom of the press and freedom of speech must be respected and promoted. i encourage the egyptian government and the egyptian judiciary to immediately release these four journalists as well as all other journalists currently detained and to allow members, all members of the news media to operate in an unrestricted environment, free from harassment, censorship and arbitrary arrest and detention. as white house spokesman jay carney, has said, the restrictions on freedom of expression and egypt are a concern and that includes the targeting of egyptian and foreign journalists and academics simply for expressing their views. earlier this month, i sent a

letter signed by 15 members of the congress urging the secretary of state to take immediate action to help secure the release of these journalists in egypt. as egypt struggles to find its identity, it's important for the international community to remind the egyptian leadership and all world leaders of the need for pre-- free press. free those journalists, a free society requires a free press. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the chair recognizes the gentleman from michigan, mr. huizenga, for five minutes. mr. huizenga: thank you, mr. speaker. i appreciate this. if you thought obamacare and the obama administration's rollout of healthcare.gov got bad, believe it or not, it got worse for another section of our citizens. back in michigan, the second district is home to the highest number of latino citizens than any other district, any other congressional district in the state of michigan.

and like thousands of other residents across michigan, hispanic michiganders are forced to deal with higher costs, the hoe tension loss of their doctor, canceled insurance policies, all because of obamacare. these citizens are in need of the same information that we are all in search of. well, after being delayed for more than two months, the administration finally unveiled its spanish language website that contained an embarrassing amount of spanglish. i couldn't come up with that much. it's insulting that the administration make up words rather than find a translation for the president's signature achievement. one friend made a statement, 's just as bad in spanish as it is in english. latinos are more adversely impacted by soaring premiums because the median age of the hispanic population is fuelly 10 years younger than the national average.

therefore, they are seeing these premiums soar and as it shifts those costs to younger americans. these are the same younger citizens that the very folks that need to sign up for this program, as was predicted would happen, or certainly what is needed to try to make an actuarially sound, these are the same folks who are not doing so right now. the focus of the debate instead needs to be on patient-centered solutions that not only lower costs but deliver high-quality care to more citizens. none of which unfortunately obamacare actually does. i believe it's time to repeal and replace this failed policy. and you know, mr. speaker, house republicans have led with numerous options such as the patient option act, as dr. broun was just talking about. dr. price of georgia, dr. benishek, the republican study committee plan, a number of plans have been out there and proposed and i think would be a far better solution to the

things we can agree on, having greater access for more people at a lower costs. i think we can all agree on in any language is that obamacare is off the mark. with that i'd yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from california, ms. speier, for five minutes. ms. speier: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to speak about the hardworking americans who are being left behind in this country. some sectors of our economy are recovering from the great recession. not all both are rising. not even close. i recently spent a night in a homeless shelter and was dismayed that it was filled with members of the middle class and earning above the minimum wage did not protect them from having to share a dorm room with dozens of other people. the reality is a subclass of workers has emerged who do play

by the rules and work hard but find that they are literally only one step away from living on the streets by a single medical emergency or a slow day if you are working for tips at $2.13 an hour. they work full time, but after putting in a full day, they go home to a homeless shelter. we interact with these people every day. they take our food orders. they fix our cars and bag our groceries. they aren't looking for handouts or begrudging the success of others but simply trying to meet their basic needs. they face huge obstacles in finding a home in housing markets where rentals have escalated beyond their reach. working 40 hours a week meant a minimum standard of living and

a foot hold on the ladder to the middle class but not anymore. let me tell you some of their stories. one woman i spoke to was working at a safeway in the bakery department. her husband was working at officemax in the warehouse. they are full-time wage earners and they were living in a homeless shelter because they had to put together so much money for the first and last month's rent. no one should be forced to live in shelters while you're working full time, but according to the national center on family homelessness, 29% of the homeless in this country have jobs. let me tell you who else populates homeless shelters. veterans. that night i listened to several veterans battling ptsd. one iraq veteran who saw heavy

combat said he once had a six-figure job in a silicon valley company before falling prey to drugs and alcohol. we talked for a long time as he slowly and haltingly unfolded his story about the worst side of battle that torments him today. he said, my country forced me to do terrible things. another veteran said she was raped while serving but eventually dishonorably discharged for admitting she was gay during the "don't ask, don't tell" policy days. her life has spiraled down since then. a single mother with four mother at another shelter i visited told me she was hastily evicted when the home she rented was deemed illegal. her $19 an hour job made her too rich for childcare assistance, forcing her into

homelessness. bay the -- by the way, the father is nowhere to be found to pay child support. i left the next day committed to doing more. we should all be doing more in congress. we should all be spending a night in a homeless shelter in our districts to hear the stories of our constituents or just spend a few hours at one. t will inform you in ways that go way beyond the mere numbers. we need to understand why 1.6 million children are homeless at least one night in the year and why the number of homeless children enrolled in public chools has risen 72% since 2006. our inaction is crippling working families, single mothers and veterans who have sacrificed so much for this nation. i call on my colleagues today to take the homeless shelter

challenge. talk to your constituents who do not have a home and meet the families who are failing because of our indifference and our inaction. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from florida, ms. ros-lehtinen, for five minutes. thank you, nen: mr. speaker. and i rise today to lend my oice to who are brutally silenced after the nicolas maduro regime. after suffering under the hugo chavez rule, the people of venezuela have watched their liberties continue to be violently stripped away as maduro continues to radicalize the country's policy. they are led to shortages as

basic goods as milk and toilet paper and sending venezuela into a downward economic spiral that worsens every day. -- has uption that that contributed to a society that's plagued by rampant violence. in this country of 30 million inhabitants, nearly 25,000 homicides were committed last year alone. worse still, the vast majority of these murders went unpunished, creating a climate of impunity that leaves ordinary citizens paralyzed by fear and hopeless about their own future and the future of their country. as if this was not harsh enough, mr. speaker, venezuelans are now facing the regime's repressive and violent actions. weeks ago, maduro and his cronies unleashed a bloody crackdown on students as they demonstrated against the

regime's failed policies and peacefully demanded their basic human rights and democratic freedoms. these students are expressing the sentiment of millions of venezuelans who are sick and tired of the regime's destructive policies and fear for what may happen next. these students were exercising freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. yet, maduro responded to their brave cause of liberty with -- calls of liberty with tear gas, rubber bullets, beatings and live ammunition. as the number of venezuelan protestors swelled to the millions, maduro has only stepped up the violent and attempt to silence his country by censoring radio and social media platforms. by controlling outlets, maduro per pet rates his absurd conspiracy theories which casts

blame on everyone but himself for this crisis on democracy in venezuela. through the use of violence, maduro has followed the familiar playbook of other rulers who fear the desire of their citizens to live in freedom and under the rule of law. this is especially the case with the brutal castro tyranny which has the biggest stake in keeping maduro in power because of its mutual disdain for freedom, for democracy, for liberty, for the rule of law and because of castro's dependence on venezuelan oil. we have witnessed the castro regime parachute in their own hired guns to help the maduro regime continue its oppressive tactics against the people of venezuela. since the countrywide protest began on february 12, maduro regime -- ma daughtero's regime -- maduro's regime has murdered

at least 14 venezuelans, injured or unjustly detained hundreds more and committed the worst abuses against protestors as stories of torture and other human rights violations continue to pour in. this relentless oppression will continue and intensify unless the united states and the international communities speak with a unified voice and helps to promote the rule of law, the human rights and the democratic aspirations of the venezuelan people. i hope that we'll be able to say that we did not stand idly by as the venezuelan people were brutally repressed and that we had a voice in making sure that people knew what was going on in venezuela. i hope that we'll be able to say that we stood for justice, that we stood for peace, that we stood for human rights, we stood for freedom, we stood for the rule of law at the moment

when these were needed the most. thank you, mr. speaker, for the time, and i yield back the balance of my time. . the speaker pro tempore: the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from texas, ms. jackson lee, for five minutes. thank you very much, mr. speaker. i do believe that we in this country have an obligation, commitment, and duty, and just simply out of friendship to be concerned about the american people. in the many way that is they come to this congress or their members of congress or to their elected officials, after contributing over the years to make america great, when they are in their time of need it is

most appropriate for us to respond. it is now going on almost a year that we have not responded to hardworking americans who over the years have contributed taxes, maybe some of them are veterans, served in the united states military, willing to make the ultimate sacrifice. and now in their time of need we are dilly-dallying. unfortunately, we are doing so because our friends on the other side of the aisle cannot recognize that but for the grace of god there go i. these individuals are not standing in line to get unemployment insurance, they are standing in line to apply for jobs. because the people who are eligible for unemployment insurance are individuals who have worked most every day of their life, but unfortunately they have found in times of economic upswings and down swings, maybe because of their

training, maybe because of being a recent veteran, that they are not able to get a job immediately. and this congress has delayed over and over again where our friends on the other side of the aisle and those republicans in the other body claim that they could not offer one vote to be able to pass unemployment insurance. these individuals need our commitment, america's commitment, as they have given commitment to us. right now in america there are now 48 million americans living in poverty. 22 million children. some of the individuals here were not at minimum wage, but they are individuals working that are working and making minimum wage and can't make it, either. and we must confront these issues. there must be the attitude of a good samaritan in this congress. i have introduced h.r. 3888, the new chance for a new start in

life act of 2014. it provides grants to nonprofits and state and local governments to train individuals for the emerging industries, the new jobs, so that individuals such as those waiting in line for employment can find employment. i would like to add that legislation as we move forward on the extension of unemployment insurance, 1.3 million, 1.5 million and growing, because every week some individual who is unemployed maxes out on the 26 weeks of what they get on unemployment insurance in the state. that's why this is called emergency unemployment insurance. that's why it's called insurance because it covers individuals who have worked, who have contributed, and who have worked. so it is disappointing that we are here again not being able to extend the unemployment insurance again. not being able to put on the floor of the house and get a vote for and creasing the minimum wage to $10.10, a bill

that -- for increasing the minimum wage to $10.10, a bill that has been filed for more than a year. and to look working families directly in the eye and suggest that they can survive on less than the increase of the minimum wage. there are business that is will support this. there are businesses who recognize that as they provide for think -- their employees, that employee is a consumer, that employee tries to buy a house or pays their rent or goes out and buys items for their children or for their elderly parents or for themselves. why don't we understand that investment is what america's all about? because america is not broke. and we have the opportunity to invest, to create more research and development, but we are living under the umbrella, with the big elephant in the room, sequester. that doesn't make sense. because this country is one of the richest countries in the world. i can assure you if we invest in america, we will create jobs. and those jobs will then turn

the economy again, continue to bring down the debt. i don't know why a commonsense approach to building this economy up should not be the direction of this country. yesterday i spoke of the high speed rail summit, it is very clear that a building of high speed rail will create thousands of jobs, increase mobility of americans, but yet the images that we are broke -- the image is we are broke. that is a very sad commentary. as i listen to the ads that were utilized in my state of texas, individuals not running for congress or the united states senate, but running for state offices, and all they could talk about is standing up against obama. i want to stand with president obama and stand with him to build this country and make it greater. that should be the message. invest in people. that's what will make america the nation that all -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. the chair recognizes the gentleman from illinois, mr. shimkus, for five minutes.

mr. shimkus: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. you, mr. s: thank speaker. mr. speaker, i first want to recognize anna and michael, reporters from "the new york times," because will i summarize their article and plagiarize other portions of it in talking about ukraine. the world watched in wonder, concern, excitement, and sometimes horror and marveled at the tenacity and the resiliency of the ukranian people. however ukraine is in desperate need now of billions of dollars, and quickly its economy is shrinking, its government treasury is empty, its foreign exchange funds are low, and its banklingcies -- banking system is fragile. which brings to point what are the next steps?

and the first step is for the ukranian people to organize an interim government. i call upon them to do it as rapidly as they can so that the international community has someone, then, to negotiate with and deal with some of these ressing matters. and they are into a positive direction in doing that. the second thing is for the capitals of brussels and washington, d.c., to take immediate action to help offset some of these dire financial constraints that ukraine has. i want to applaud secretary kerry for already trying to address this and floating the idea of $1 billion that would then go to immediate aid. i want to call upon the european union, headquarters in brussels, and all the individual european countries to do the same. it's important now for this

financial faith and confident dense so that the people -- confidence so that the people of ukraine can continue to move rward and develop some financial security in this transitional period. this is also critical in that this occurs as a bridge before the international monetary fund weighs in. the international monetary fund, obviously needs to have a stable government to deal with. it also needs to have and will ask for reforms, transparency, rule of law, some financial controls to get the ledger solidified in ukraine. and that is what they should do. so the important aspect of this debate is that the individual countries that have concern about the stability of what's

formerly called the captive nations, the eastern block, now countries that want to be in the european community, a free, democratic institutions that there has to be a bridge so that obviously the chaos that has been involved in the country of ukraine will not continue post the departure of their president and that stability can reign. i call upon the ream of ecrane to keep the faith and work hard and move forward on these reforms. i call upon the governments as i mentioned before, my own government, and the governments of the european union to offer immediate assistance. and i call for the international monetary fund to move expeditiously, as quickly as possible, to help stabilize the situation in ukraine. with that, mr. speaker, thank you. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the

gentleman from california, mr. swalwell, for five minutes. mr. swall well: each february during african-american history month, americans come together to celebrate the important contributions of african-americans throughout the nation. i'm proud to share the remarkable story of one of my constituents. captain leon "woody" spears. growing up near an airfield, young woody always dreamed of flying. after attending college, he was given the opportunity toe achieve -- to achieve his dreams. woody was among the few selected to join other young african-americans in alabama at the cuss key gee airfield where he was trained to fly. during training, woody overcame very tough odds. battling prejudice and racism to earn his wings and honor of serving with the tuskegee airmen. following training then lieutenant spears was sent to italy at the height of world war

ii serving with the all african-american 33 touchdown fighter group. woody's -- 33 itnd fighter group. his tensist moment came in 1945 where his airplane was hit by anti-aircraft fire. he was forced to make an emergency landing in germany, only to be taken prisoner later by the german army. later woody was able to relocate to russian forces and found his way back to safety. captain spears and his fellow tuskegee air m.e.p. proved themselves in battle abroad. but on returning home they faced another battle -- struggle for equality. denied basic human dignity, they fought back. with like-minded citizens, they changed america for the better. and of course that fight, their struggle, still continues today. for their brave service during world war ii, the tuskegee airmen were collectively awarded

the congressional gold medal in 2007. captain spears was among those present to receive this prestigious honor. after captain spears' military career, he dedicated his life to public service. toured the country to share his military experiences during the time of segregation, and speak up for equality for all. although captain spears is no longer with us, we are reminded of the life motto he lived by, dare to dream. captain spears is just one of many african-americans with the unique story that makes our country what it is today. the story of captain spears reminds us that the united states has come a long way, that we still have a much longer way to go to truly reach equality for all. i will not rest until all americans have an equal opportunity to achieve their dreams. with that, mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. in memory of woody spears. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from puerto rico, mr.

pierluisi, for five minutes. mr. pierluisi: mr. speaker, yesterday the junior senator from mississippi and the junior senator from west virginia spoke on the senate floor about puerto rico's political status. because puerto rico is a territory and not a state, we have no senators who can respond to these two senators on the senate floor, so as the only elected representative in congress of the 3.6 million u.s. citizens that live in puerto rico, i respond now. the senators discussed the referendum that was held in puerto rico in november, 2012. however neither senator mentioned that on the first question in that referendum, 54% of voters said they do not want puerto rico to be a territory. which means that my constituents do not know longer consent to the -- no longer consent to the

current status. likewise, neither senator noted that during a senate hearing on the referendum held last august the senior democrat and the senior republican on the committee on energy and natural resources agreed that was undisputable and clear that the people of puerto rico oppose the current territory status. neither senator acknowledged that in the referendum statehood received more states than any other status option, including the current status. in short, the center's discussion of the historic referendum was clearly sufficient. in addition, both senators expressed opposition to the puerto rico status resolution act which i introduced last year in the house and which was introduced earlier this month in the senate. the two senators have every right to oppose this legislation, which calls for an up or down vote in puerto rico on the territories as a state

and outlines the steps the federal government if the majority of voters would favor admission. but to argue, as the senators did, that the bill excludes other options other than statehood makes no sense. binary vote by definition is not exclusive. those who support it can vote yes and those who oppose it can vote no. this is the same format that led to hawaii and alaska becoming states. i asked the senators, did you think those votes were unfair or exclusionary? in any event, there are 132 members of the house and senate who support the statehood act. both senators sought to contrast their opposition to puerto rico's status resolution act which their apparent support for a puerto rico

related appropriation that the president included in his fiscal year 2014 budget request at my urgens and that recently became law -- urgent and that recently became law. it would have the first federally sponsored vote in puerto rico's history, to be held one or more options that are consistent with the u.s. law and policy and that would resolve the status issue. contrary to the suggestion made by both senators, a vote on puerto rico's admission of a state is a logical way to structure the federally sponsored pleb side to be held. both senators also expressed the view that the status debate is obstruction from efforts to tackle puerto rico's economic and fiscal challenges. this argument is familiar but it is false. the reality is that puerto rico's economic problems are structure in nature and are rooted in the territory's unequal and undemocratic status. no wonder my constituents are

relocating to the states in unprecedented numbers. i look forward to the day when the men, women and children i represent have the same rights and responsibilities as their fellow u.s. citizens residing in the states that the two senators represent. we do not seek special treatment. we seek equality and we intend to achieve it. thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new york, mr. crowley, for five minutes. mr. crowley: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. crowley: mr. speaker, it was 50 years ago that president -- then-president lyndon johnson declared a war on poverty. i rise today to join my colleagues in recognizing the 50th anniversary of this declaration, this promise that america will be a better place for the generations that come after us. and i join them in restating our commitment to fighting for

policies that lift all americans up. that american dream that we so often speak of, it only happens now if we embrace national initiatives that respect and encourage that dream. guaranteeing a fair wage, promoting educational opportunity, investing in an economy that works for the 21st century, that's what we should be spending our time on here in congress, not gutting consumer and safety protections or political distractions like we see on this week's agenda. i'm not worried the republican party has surrendered in the war on poverty, i'm worried they were interested in it to begin with. a life in poverty shouldn't be life sentence with no future, but for too many americans, that's exactly what it is.

46.5 million americans live in poverty today. 16 million of those are children. in my hometown of new york city, that's one in three children. one in three children. these families, these children find themselves trapped in poverty and they need a government that is willing to help them out of that for us. helping those in need has long been a part of our country's philosophy. that's why we have unemployment insurance for when workers lose a job through no fault of their own. that's why we have social security that seniors no longer have to live out their final days in grinding poverty. that's why we have snap benefits so that no child goes hungry in the richest nation on earth. these programs and other lifelines are under threat, putting millions of americans

in danger of slipping further into poverty. we can -- we cannot let that happen. we cannot let the threads of our social safety net slip apart, and we have to make sure that a hard day's work pays enough to make ends meet. today we have millions of americans who are working poor. that means they get up every morning, they get dressed, they go to work and they put in 40-plus hours of work -- i would suggest, even more, every week but they aren't making enough money to pay the bills or even make basic needs like food and shelter. to me that is not how america should be. if you work a full-time job, you should be able to feed and support your family. but the fact is someone who works full time on minimum wage only makes about $14,000 a

year. $14,000 a year. that's just not enough money no matter how many ways you slice it to make ends meet, and it's definitely not enough to take care of children or family. t shouldn't be this way. for all differences, we should be united in the desire to give our children a better way of life than we had. that's what i know my grandparents were thinking when they emigrated here from ireland. just like many others. they passed a statue the liberty, the famous signal of hope and opportunity. the words at the base say, give me your tired and your poor. the statue of liberty doesn't say we should forget about poor children. no. it saves, give us your tired, give us your poor. give us. imagine what a wonderful

message that is that america is actually about helping the poor. it's because that is who we are as americans. that's what the war on poverty demands of us, living up to the ideals we've set for our country. i urge every one of my colleagues to look inside themselves and recommit themselves to fighting the war on poverty, a fight that as president johnson said we cannot afford to lose. with that, mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back.

>> just starting at the white house. the first lady will speak as well. live coverage here on c-span. >> that's why simple changes to food labels can make a big difference. in fact, more than half of consumers rely on those labels for guidance. 7 the proposed changes captured the most up-to-date science in a way that's easy to read and understand. for helping moms and dads by making it easier to make healthy food choices on a daily basis. now, there may not be one silver bullet in the fight against childhood obesity, but the updates being proposed today are just some of the many steps we are taking to reach our ultimate

goal of better health outcomes for all our kids. we have all heard the statistics. obesity in children tripled from the 1970's to 2008. reports project that by 2030 half of all the adults in the united states will be obese. this epidemic hurts or economy as well as our health. obesity related medical conditions cost our nation nearly $150 billion every year. by 2018 experts believe that obesity will make up 21% of all the health costs. now, with that being said, there data e very important new and progress that's being shown. the c.d.c.'s most recent data shows that collective efforts are beginning to work. especially among preschoolers where the 2012 rate of childhood

obesity is at its lowest point since the peak of the epidemic. there is no better leader on this effort than first lady michelle obama, and she has done some amaze work on all these issues. along with her other initiatives, her let's move campaign has inspired all of us over the last four years to remember that exercise doesn't have to be a chore. whether to burn calories, build muscle, or just have fun living an active life is the best way to feel great and stay healthy. over the country schools, community leaders, people, moms and dads are joining together to help our kids get and stay healthy. families are working hard to make changes in their own lives. big and small. and our job is to empower consumers and help make those choices as easy as possible. i'd like now to introduce one of our great health leaders at

h.h.s., f.d.a. commissioner dr. peggy hamburg. she has a passion for food safety and food issues and an important newport folio and is here to talk more in detail about the proposed changes to the nutrition facts label. dr. hamburg. [applause] >> thank you so much, secretary sebelius. i'm delighted to be joining all of you for tate's -- today's let's move announcement in which f.d.a.'s unveiling our proposed changes to a new and improved, more user friendly version of the nutrition facts label. before i walkthrough our proposed changes, i also want to join secretary sebelius and thank first lady michelle obama for her continued commitment to encourage americans to live healthier lifestyles and

recognize the four-year anniversary of the let's move initiative. for 20 years we have relied on the now identify connick nutrition facts label to help us make informed food choice -- iconic nutrition facts label to help us make informed food choices on what to eat. when it was first introduced this landmark label provided the american consumer for the first time with the uniform information about the nutritional content of the foods. since then, we gained a better understanding of the relationship between what we eat and many serious chronic diseases affecting millions of americans. for example, we know that eating more calories than needed to maintain our body weight coupled with the lack of physical activity is a primary risk factor for obesity in the general population. f.d.a. experts relied on data from a variety of sources, including the institute of medicine, to design this new

label. let me highlight some of the proposed changes. first, sugar. we know that as a nation we eat too much added sugar. while some of those sugars occur naturally in foods, much of it is added. the new label would provide more information about sugars and food by now indicating when a food has added sugar. and why does this really matter? because added sugars contribute to a substantial portion of american calories, but don't really provide much else in the way of nutrients. this has major implications for maintaining a healthy body weight. we believe that requiring added sugars to be listed separately on the nutrition facts panel will better allow consumers to identify and compare products with added sugar and enable them to make better choices. we also hope this change will motivate the food industry to

reformulate its products. as many of you may know, this occurred back in 2006 when f.d.a. required food producers to add information about transfats in the labels. when americans have better options, they can make healthier choices, and we all win. so now let's talk about how much we eat. in many cases people are now eating amounts that are very different from the serving sizes the f.d.a. first put in place in 1994. i should note our official definition for a serving size is a reference amount. it reflects how much we actually eat when serving ourselves, and for this reference amount to be useful to the consumer, it has to be close to what the average person would typically eat. so contrary to what many may think, serving sizes on food packages are not recommended portions. we also know that package size

affects what people eat, and people are likely to eat or drink all the contents of certain packaged foods. all in one sitting. for packaged foods and beverages that are typically consumed in one sitting, we propose labeling all of them as a single serving size and declaring calorie and nutrient information for the entire package. for example, a can of ready to eat soup is usually consumed as a single serving. for packages that are larger and could be consumed either as a single or multiple serving, manufacturers would have to provide a dual column. this label would indicate both per serving and per package calorie and nutrient information. this way people will know how many calories and nutrients they are consuming, if, in fact, they eat or drink the entire amount at one time. it might be surprising to learn that in this day and age there still are some nutrients that

people simply are not getting enough of. we have known for some time that potassium and vitamin d are important nutrients for health, and significant for maintaining healthy lifestyles. potassium can help lower blood pressure, while vitamin d is a key nutrient for helping to promote healthy bone development and general health. but what's new is that current data show that certain population groups are not getting enough of them. therefore, we are proposing that these nutrients be required elements that are listed on the nutrition facts label, along with calcium and iron, which have been required for some time. and vitamins a and c, currently required, could be listed voluntarily. finally, we are proposing changes to some daily values which are intended to be a guide for how much of a particular nutrient a person should consume each day, or in the case of things like sodium, an upper limit for the day.

the daily values are used to determine the percent daily value you see on the label. the percent daily value helps you see how much of the daily value one serving of a particular package food contributes. we have determined through our scientific research that some of these numbers should change, while the upper limits for sodium will decrease slightly, to be in line with current recommendations, data shows that daily targets through dietary fine earn calcium should in fact increase somewhat. so finally let's see what's changed about the layout of the nutrition facts label itself. you'll see that information about calories and serving size really jumps out at you much more than it did before. on the other hand, we have actually removed certain amount such as calories from fat, and that's because we learned that total fat is less important than the type of fat that you eat.

these are very important changes. our goal here is to design a label that is easier to read and one that consumers can understand. this proposal is the culmination of years of research study and requests for public input. we welcomed the comments we have received from experts and consumers alike to guide us towards the label that we feel will provide people with the information that they want and that they need. it's clear that the benefits will far outweigh the costs. we believe these proposed updates to the nutrition facts label will help in improving public health, incorporating the latest nutrition recommendations to reduce the risk of chronic disease such as cardiovascular disease, obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, and stroke. and we realize that the label alone won't magically change how america eats, but we hope that

once consumers decide to implement changes in their diet and lead to healthier lifestyles, it will provide them with the tools to be successful. so thank you and i now like to turn to ms. bryant, a mother of four and also a grandmother, to talk about how this matters to amilies. >> good morning. my name is ms. bryant nelson, d i'm a wife, a mom, and a grandmother. keeping my family healthy is important to me. i want my children and my randchild to have the best shots at the future, but with a limited time and limited budget,

cooking healthy food isn't always easy. at's why i'm so grateful for the no care -- for the new program. they took me around the grocery store and told me how to read food labels, how to buy more fruits and vegetables, and about eating whole grains. the best part of learning that i can feed my family a healthy, home cooked meal on just $10. i was shocked. because of cooking matters, my kids are eating and actually liking brown rice and whole wheat bread. we are grilling and baking food instead of frying it. and we now know that half our plate should be filled with fruits and vegetables. and when we made a simple change, my kids actually lost

weight. my son lost 11 pounds. another great payoff to living a healthier -- another great payoff to living healthier is being here today. i am incredibly honored to introduce the first lady of the united states, mrs. michelle obama. [applause] >> her passion and dedication has made a huge difference for my family and for so many families across the country. thank you. [applause] >> good morning, everyone. it's great to have you-all here. let me start by thanking shanise for that very kind introduction and her wonderful remarks. let me just say when, we heard in the back were you a grandmother, everybody was like,

oh. really? she's a grandmother. we thought you were a teen ager. really? see what eating healthy does? but it's great to have you here. thank you so much for working so hard to keep your family in shape and healthy. we are very proud of you. very proud of you. i also want to thank secretary sebelius and commissioner hamburg for their outstanding leadership as well. it takes a whole lot of people to get all of this done, and we are grateful for you-all. your leadership and their efforts. thank you so much for being here today. [applause] >> we are also joined by one of my dear friends and a fabulous advocate, rachel ray. where are you? there you are. rachel ray who has done so much work for let's move. thank you, rachel. we're going to do something fun

shortly, right? you ready? all right. i'll wear my floot shoes for you. -- flat shoes for you. of course i want to thank all of you. the parents, the advocates, the industry leaders who worked so hard to make this day possible. congratulations. this is a good day. it's a great announcement. back when we first launched let's move four years ago, all of us here today were driven by a simple belief that parents deserve to have the information they need to make healthy choices for their kids. and this isn't a particularly radical idea. in fact, it seems pretty obvious, but the truth is that too often it's nearly impossible to get the most basic facts about the food we buy for our families. for example, how many of you have at some point in your life made a statement that you were going to eat better? maybe you wanted to lose a

little weight. maybe you wanted to improve your family's nutrition. maybe there were health issues in your family that required you to watch what you ate. whatever the reason, you resolved to read those labels and only buy foods that you believed would be good for you and your kids. so you marched into the supermarket, you picked up a can or box of something, you squinted at that little tiny label, and you were totally and utterly lost. so there you stood alone in some aisle in a store, the clock ticking away at the precious little time remaining to complete your weekly grocery shopping, and all you could do was scratch your head, confused is ewildered, and wonder, this too much sugar in this product? is 50% of the daily allowance of riboflavin a good thing or bad thing? and how on earth could this teeny little package contain

five whole servings? this stream of questions and worries running through your head when all you really wanted to know was, should i be eating this or not? is this good for my kids or not? and? it is healthy, how much of it should i be eating? but unless had you a theysaurus, calculator, microscope, or degree in newtry, were you out ofing -- out of luck. you felt defeated so you went back to buy the same stuff you always buy. and that's a familiar scenario for far too many families and parents trying to do the right thing for their kids. and it's simply not acceptable. as consumers and as parents, we have a right to understand what's in the food we are feeding our families, because that's really the only way that we can make informed choices. by having clear, accurate information. and ultimately that's what today's announcement is all about. as you have heard today for the

first time since the nutrition label was developed two decades ago, we are overhauling these labels to make them easier to read and understand. and this is a major undertaking involving folks from across the country from the f.d.a. to the food industry to advocates throughout communities in this country. because a lot has changed in the past 20 years. just consider all the new information we have learned about nutrition and healthy eating during that time period. not to mention this label appears on roughly 700,000 products. but in the end, our guiding principle here is simple. that you as a parent and a consumer should be able to walk into a grocery store, pick an item off the shelf, and tell whether it's good for your family. to achieve this goal in the coming months, the f.d.a. will be soliciting comments from the public on the two possible

options that you see behind me. and i know there will be many opinions on what this label should look like, but i think that we all can agree that families deserve more and better information about the food they eat. and it's important to note that no matter what the final version looks like, the new label will allow you to immediately spot the calorie count, because it will be in large font and not buried in the fine print. you'll also learn more about where the sugar in the food comes from like was it a sugar in your yogurt was added during processing or whether it comes from ingredients like fruits. this is what you'll get from the label of the future. this will be the new norm in providing consumers with information about the food we buy and eat. so this is a huge deal, which is why everybody is here. and it's going to make a big

difference for families across this country. so today i want to end as i started, by truly thanking the f.d.a. and everyone else involved in this important effort. i am excited to see all the comments that come in over the coming months, and i look forward to celebrating the final label, and then ultimately seeing it on grocery shelves across the country in the years to come. congratulations. great work. let's keep pushing. there's more to do. as secretary sebelius said, we are starting to see some change. we are nowhere near the end of this road, but with every little bit that we do, we make a huge difference. congratulations once again and keep unthe great -- up the great work. thank you so much. [applause]

[captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] >> the new label would include a line for added sugars to distinguish from sugars that appear naturally in food. it would list nutritional values for vitamin d and potassium which benefit bone health and blood pressure control. that's from the "wall street journal." the house gavels back in in about half an hour or so. legislative work getting under way then. and just ahead of that legislative session, briefings this morning from speaker boehner and democratic leader nancy pelosi. we'll start first with the democratic leader. >> good morning, everyone. how are you? according to some of our

republican colleagues, we are almost ready to go home for the year. we put in our few weeks of nonlegislative accomplishments, and the time is up. and that nothing agenda never timetable is not working for the american people. we are very pleased that yesterday a large number of mocrats gathered together to announce that we have a discharge petition on the minimum wage. over 150, right away, we left the press conference, went to the floor, where 150 members in that short period of time signed the discharge petition. the last time we raised the minimum wage, just think of this, the last time we raised the minimum wage was in our first 100 hours and we had the majority, that was in 2007. , 315 as a vote of 315 votes, 82 of them were republicans. this has always been bipartisan.

this is not going -- spoiling for a fight. something to make a differentiation. this is something where at least 36 of those 82-- are still in the congress, and i know that some more of the new members who have come would support an increase in the minimum wage. all we want is a vote. economists and experts agree that when americans can earn higher pay, businesses benefit, and our nation prospers. perhaps you were at our press conference yesterday, but i think it bears repeating that the small business owners who testified talked about what it meant to them and the productivity of their workers. what it meant to them in longevity of holding workers a longer period of time, and the morale. they talked about if you don't have a decent wage, in this case they would argue for a minimum wage, families suffer, children

suffer, and women suffer. 60% of team making minimum wage are women. so just think if we would pass this bill we would lift one million people out of poverty. we would increase the wages for 25 million people. give america a raise, as the president said. 25 million people. and we would, again, empower women. women who some single moms who are making the minimum wage. a little tax breaks money in those terms goes a very, very long way. by signing the discharge petition, by casting a vote, establishing a higher minimum wage, more money in the pockets of consumers. there's no question. >> devastating consequences of the president's health care law on the american people. last week the administration announced it will proceed with obamacare policies that will

cause many seniors enrolled in the popular medicare advantage program to lose access to their doctors and their hospitals. late friday, the administration admitted in a report that 11 million small business employees will see higher insurance premiums as a result of obamacare. and this week we learned that the extent of the cybersecurity issues at the core of obamacare website, the administration promised that the site was secure, but clearly it is not. americans are facing higher premiums, they are losing their doctors, and they are losing their health plans. i received hundreds of letters in my office from my constituents about their concerns with obamacare. i talked to dozens of people myself who have been adversely affected, losing their plans, paying much higher premiums, and denying realities, not going to make this any better.

that's why the law must be replaced with patient centered reforms, lower cost, and give families and seniors the health securities that they want. back in 2012 the president chose politics over governing. he took the year off, got little done, and this year i'm beginning to see the same pattern of behavior. we have seen more and more the president has no interest in doing the big things that he got elected to do. his budget apparently will make no effort to address the debt and deficit. his vice president told democrats at their retreat that they have no interest and won't push for trade promotional authority. and the president has said his focus will be going around congress instead of working with it. so we have two options. we can follow the president's lead and pack it in for the year, just wait for the election, or we can pursue our own vision and continue to present alternatives to the mess

that the president has brought us over the last five years. and that's exactly what we will do. we'll lead and our members will not shy away from advancing better solutions for the american people. it's why our ways and means chairman has commenced a discussion about how to reform our broken tax system. that's why our leaders have outlined a vision for how we would tackle immigration reform. that's why chairman ryan will write a balanced budget that helps save our entitlement programs. and it's why our members will offer an alternative when it comes to obamacare. we'll offer better solutions on jobs, job training, education, and a host of other issues. while democrats will sit on the sidelines and will continue to lead and offer better solutions for the american people. >> mr. speaker, you sat down with president obama this week. what was the one area where you found the most agreement, if any? >> well, i'm not going to

outline everything that went on in the meeting with the president. immigration. we had a very healthy conversation on immigration. you asked the question. i gave you an answer. yes, sir. i apologize, what conditions have you placed on mr. camp to introduce the tax reform, bring it to committee for markup and bring it to the floor? >> i'm going to say this one more time. i said yesterday, i'll say it again today. we have a broken tax system. tax reform is critically important to spur economic growth, create more jobs, and higher wages for the american people. chairman camp has done an outstanding job of working through this issue over the last three to five years. what chairman camp offered yesterday was the beginnings of a conversation.

for someone who's been a legislator here, chairman of the committee, you understand you can't move big pieces of legislation without a thorough discussion, a thorough understanding. so the conversation has started. it's an important conversation. and so we ought to allow the conversation to continue. we'll learn out of this conversation that will advise us on if and when and how we move forward. >> a lot of people have been making noise about this being the fifth anniversary of the tea party. there's an effort to buy certain tea party factions don't see you as speaker. how do you look at that when you have these challenges from the right flank? >> i have made it clear, i have great respect for the tea party. and the energy they have brought to the electoral process. my gripe is not with the tea party. my gripe is with some washington o.s who feel like they have got

to go raise money by beating up on me and others. >> mr. speaker, the same time some of your tea party members over the past five years have pushed you to places you didn't want to be. so five years in, how -- >> welcome to being the leader. >> how has your approach to the tea party changed over the past five years? >> i don't think it's changed at all. my job is to listen to my colleagues, to work with my colleagues, and to find where the common ground is so we can move forward. and so i don't think it's changed at all. >> bobby underle, the governor of louisiana, said it's not enough for republicans to come out against obamacare. your entire opening was against obamacare. >> did you hear the rest of my remarks? there are solutions. >> what are the better solutions, whatever republicans are around in november and are you placing too much faith against running on obamacare? >> there are two big issues i think this year. issues that, frankly, have been same issues the last couple years.

it's the economy and it's obamacare. the president's policies are getting in the way of our economic recovery. this is the slowest economic recovery in the history of the country. and the president's policies are getting in the way, whether it's all the rules and regulations coming out of the administration, obamacare, and all the changes that he's making, unilaterally, to obamacare, creating all this uncertainty. so i think it's important for republicans to have our, what i would call, better solutions. better solutions on obamacare. better solutions on getting our economy going again. and that's where our focus will be. >> do you believe it should come to a vote, can you commit they will come to a vote this year? >> we are going to continue to have conversations with our members about tax reform. continue that discussion. the same kind of discussion has to go on with regard to replacing obamacare. our old system had its problems.

but my goodness, the president's made problems in our health care system 10 times worse. so we are going to continue to go through a lot of ideas. our members have introduced 126 different ideas about how to fix obamacare, how to replace obamacare. as you-all know the majority leader has a meeth tomorrow, both mr. mccarthy and mrs. mcmorris rodgers, have convened the hope group, which is our group looking at the alternative for obamacare. urged them yesterday, continue their work. >> you mentioned that chairman ryan will do a balanced budget. does that mean it will be a complete budget? there definitely -- >> i certainly expect so. >> given the splits in your party over the flood insurance bill -- >> what splits? there are no splits in my party. >> and the opposition of chairman hensarling, could you avoid some of this angst by

bringing up in regular order? why don't do you it that way? >> majority leader is working in a bipartisan way with ms. waters and ms. pelosi and others to address the problems in the flood insurance program. while there certainly needs to be some fiscal sanity brought to this program, the way it is deemed implemented is just not sustainable. everybody understands it. the senate bill, in my view, doesn't really solve the problem. and i do think that the effort that's under way is a serious effort. practical effort. to soften the impact of these changes to the program. >> do you consider -- what is leadership? how do you define leadership if all your people do is put out statements of principles or a bill introduce like mr. camp that apparently has no chance to

pass? >> what we don't want to do is to do what the majority leader suggested a couple years ago, when it came to obamacare. we have to pass the law before we know what's in it. that's not a very good way to ledge slay. frankly bringing bills to the floor that members understand, members appreciate, know what the up sides and down sides are, making sure that we've got the right public policy, is the correct way to legislate. i think the second point i would make is this. we have to remember we are the -- we control the house, democrats control the senate, democrats control the white house. so there is a certain amount of reality that we have to deal with. even though some days it doesn't look that way. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014]

>> they'll finish up work on a bill requiring federal agencies to issue monthly reports on the status of proposed rules. and take up a bill today that would change the name and structure of the consumer financial protection bureau. live coverage when they gavel in. just a short while ago the democratic leader, nancy pelosi, held her briefing. we'll show you as much of that as we can until the house gavels in. >> good morning, everyone. how are you? according to some our republican colleagues, we are almost ready to go home for the year. we have put in a few weeks of nonlegislative accomplishment, and the time is up. and that nothing agenda never timetable is not working for the american people. we were very pleased that yesterday a large number of

democrats gathered together to announce that we have a discharge petition on the minimum wage. over 150, right away, we left the press conference, went to the floor, over 150 members in that short period of time signed the discharge petition. the last time we raised the minimum wage, just think of this, the last time we raised the minimum wage was in our first 100 hours and we had the majority, that was in 2007. ere was a vote of 315, 315 votes, 82 of them were republicans. this has always been bipartisan. this is not going spoiling for a fight, something to make a differentiation. this is something where at least 82of those 82 -- 36 of those are still in the congress, and i know that some more of the new members who have come would support an increase in the

minimum wage. all we want is a vote. economists and experts agree that when americans can earn higher pay, businesses benefit, communities thrive, and our nation prospers. perhaps you were at our press conference yesterday, but i think it bears repeating that the small business owners who testified talked about what it meant to them and the productivity of their workers. when it meant to them in the longevity of holding workers a longer period of time. and the morale. they talked about if you don't have a decent wage n. this case they were arguing for a minimum wage, families suffer, children suffer, and women suffer. 60% of people making the minimum wage are women. so just think this. if we would pass this bill we would lift one million people out of poverty. we would increase the wages for 25 million people. give america a raise, as the

president said. 25 million people. and we would, again, empower women. women who -- some single moms who are making the minimum wage, a little extra money in those terms goes a very, very long way. by signing the discharge petition, by casting a vote, establishing a higher minimum wage, more money in the pockets of consumers. no question. consumer purchasing power injects demand into the economy, creates jobs. more demands for our small businesses. and, again, more security for our middle class. must be allergic to the rugs in here. are you? i always get the sniffles in here. the republicans should -- stop standing between the raise for the middle class. by the way, that bill that we passed with 315 votes was signed into law by president george w.

bush. so democrats and republicans have supported this in large numbers and bipartisan way, signed by democratic and republican presidents when it has come to his desk. after one of the least productive legislative years in congress in history, again they decided they want to do even less. by the house the end of february, did the debt ceiling and they said we have finished our business, now we can go home. let's talk about what's left. renewing u.i. in march the number of people without extended unemployment benefits will rise to two million people. two million people who have lost their jobs, through no fault of their own, who are -- had worked hard or trying to find work, two million of them. no check. this translates into sustaining

life. maintaining their homes. their dignity. how can we as a nation say that people -- the system has been paid into for u.i. we thought when they didn't do it in december, they don't like the u.i., those people are invisible. i told you before, invisible, and therefore they are indifferent to them. but again u.i. purchasing power injects demand into the economy. even if they are indifferent to people who are out of work or they are invisible to them, they have to know it has a direct impact on the economy by increasing purchasing power. it's really remarkable. just when you think you have seen it all in terms of indifference to working families in america, here we are. another bill that we think -- we know if you bring a minimum wage

bill to the floor, it would pass. if you bring a u.i. bill to the floor, it would pass. if you bring an immigration bill to the floor, it would pass. e immigration bill has 199 co-responsible -- co-sponsors, something like that. good for them. what courage. we know we would have the votes if we brought that legislation to the floor. just give us a vote. in any way the speaker wants to do it. give us a vote. as you probably have seen over 600 business organizations working with the chamber of commerce are calling for a vote on comprehensive immigration reform because it will create jobs, energize the economy, and restore confidence. again, to who we are as a people. that's why the religious -- the three b's, badges, security, representatives of public safety have come here advocating for comprehensive immigration reform. bibles, religious community, all over the case are on this issue.

and businesses as i said, 600. we have the votes. we have 198 co-sponsors. including three republicans. but the g.o.p. leadership refuses to act. all they seem to want to do is talk about a.c.a. and the rest of that. what they want to do by repealing is this say to women, no longer -- the bill says to women norks longer being a woman is a pre-existing condition. medical condition. no longer will you be discriminated on the basis of your policy and race because are you a woman. no longer can children, young people, stay on their parents' policies until they are 26 years old. no longer will we have -- they want to replace the caps, annual and lifetime on what policies can cover for people. no longer having a pre-existing medical condition in our bill.

no longer having -- is an obstacle to having insurance with no limits and the rest. but under -- they want to reverse that pre-existing condition a. child born with a condition -- condition, a child born with a condition, a person, a woman who survives breast cancer, you name it, whatever it is you know the list very well from your own families. so many people come up to me quietly and say i have a pre-existing condition, thank you. i don't want the world to know. but i want you to know that my life is changed in terms of my health and in terms of my economic security. so, again, they should end their obsession with repealing the landmark law. there isn't a bill that has passed that we wouldn't say any improvements, especially in terms of implementation as we see that go forward. but, we are very proud of the policy that is there. we want the implementation to be better and open to discussions.

but, again, no turning back in terms of pre-existing conditions, lifetime limits, children on their parents' policies. the list goes on. again as i have said to you it's about innovation, it's about wellness, it's about prevention, it's about the good health of america. not just health care. about a healthier america. with that i would be pleased to ake any questions. can i tell them? the most remarbleable thing. i was in my office and i said chad has a guest. i'm sure you have met her. she was doing reporting. girl scout. we just had the boy scouts. this was a girl scout. and so i said, i'm happy to say hello. but while -- before i could get outside, my guest left the office to go outside, who was the prime minister of georgia, georgia in the caucuses.

and this little girl had lived in georgia. a photo-op with the prime minister of georgia. isn't that remarkable? you never know on any given day around here what could happen. what was your question? >> there is a push by some democrats and republicans, particularly on the other sided of peed yum about sanctions. do you still have confidence in this agreement that the international community signed off to? if not, should there be any qualms about this? >> i believe that we should be diligent. i think we'll have a report today on a regular basis the leadership of the congress in a bipartisan way, we do it on the house side, separate from the senate, but nonetheless, committee leadership, house leadership, on the progress of the agreement.

the administration has been very responsible in terms of diligently -- duly diligent way reporting to us. so our oversight function is being honored. i have confidence in the president and secretary of state for all who have participated in bringing these people to the table. i have been on this issue for decades, and in the 1990's, in my position as ranking on foreign ops, would go to these countries, including france, russia, china, to say to them, please stop transferring technology to iran. they would say, oh, it's dual use. what's the fuss, and all the rest. the russians and chinese didn't say much. they were just transferring the technology. at that time a lot of the technology was not indigenous to iran. they are very smart people and they have the technology, they have the scientific know how. they also were being -- was also

being transferred to them was launch capacity. with something like this you want to know do they have the technology, do they have the scientific know how, do they have the launch capacity, and what is their intention? four things. and so again we have been tracking this for a very long time. i never would have thought that the united states and these countries would come together, china, russia, the countries in europe, the permanent five plus one, would come together to -- in agreement on sanctions. they were so far apart. this is a remarkable diplomatic achievement. and now as one they have entered into this agreement with iran. i think it is really important for us to give diplomacy a chance. especially since there was such a long road to get to this place. it has to be very clear to the

iranians that if this doesn't work we have other options which we are ready to use. sanctions are already passed in the house. i don't know whose purpose it serves to throw sand in the face of the negotiators when in fact let's just give diplomacy a chance. it's just a matter of months. i congratulate the administration. secretary kerry, secretary clinton. preparing the way for all of this. and the leadership of the countries involved that we have this joint sanctions regime in place for these negotiations. >> madam leader, last couple weeks, certainly the last couple dice taste some your very closest friends in this body have announced their retirement. mr. dingell, mr. waxman, mr. andrews is leaving. i wonder if so many people leaving after this congress, or

during it, makes you re-evaluate how long you'll stay here. >> no it doesn't. it's very sad these people are leaving. they are fabulous, their legislative records, mr. dingell, mr. waxman, mr. miller, legislative virtue owe sews -- irtueo sews -- virtueo sows. rush holt, rob andrews from new jersey, fabulous hems of congress. god bless them. george miller, mr. waxman they have been here 40 years each. they want to go do something else or go home. mr. dingell, i think by the time he leaves it will be 59 years. no. they go with their pace. gi at my. we miss them. they are fabulous. there's the pot and lots of people are very excited about the prospect of what comes next for them. so it is -- it's a constantly

reinvigorated body. that's what our founders intended. i thought maybe a few years ago mr. miller would be interested in leaving when we were in the majority. he wanted to go. he was ready. i said we had so much more work to do. it has nothing to do with the majority or minority, he's ready to go home. >> beginning of the sunset of the pelosi era. >> i say to them, when it is, you'll know. i'm too busy. as long as there's one in five children in america who lives in poverty -- >> you can watch this online at c-span.org. we are going to leave here as the u.s. house gavels in momentarily for legislative work. they will finish up work on a bill they started yesterday that it's a federal agency information disclosure bill. also they'll take up a measure that would overhall the consumer protection bureau, including

renaming the agency, replacing the director of a five-member board. and removing it from the fed. over in the senate work continues on veterans benefits. follow date debate on c-span2 and house debate hire on c-span.

the speaker: the house will be -- the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. the prayer will be offered by our chaplain, father conroy. chaplain conroy: god, we give you thanks for giving us another day. we pray that you bless this country we love with all our hearts. we thank you for those who founded our republic upon faith, respect for law, and constitutional rights of individuals and the common good of the nation and all its itizens. fan the flame of freedom in the hearts of all americans and especially those who serve in the armed forces. strengthen the resolve of all the members of this people's house that they, attentive to your commands, may follow their consciences and always do what is right as they wrestle with complex issue. grant that what they say with their lips they believe in their hearts and what they believe in their hearts they may bring to

practice in their lives and in our nation. may all that is done this day be for your greater honor and glory, amen. the speaker pro tempore: the chair has examined the journal of the last day's proceedings and announces to the house his approval thereof. pursuant to clause 1 of rule 1, e journal stands approve the pledge of allegiance will be led by the gentleman from texas, mr. gallego. mr. gallego: please join me in the pledge. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will now entertain up to 15 requests for one-minute speeches on each side of the aisle. for what purpose does the gentleman from michigan seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to

address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. chairman. -- mr. speaker. last week i held health care town halls across my district. constituents shared their experience with the president's health care law while parts of the law have helped a few, a majority of people have been hurt. we heard from a mother with a mentally ill, disabled son who lost his plan. small business owners who had to cut employee hours to avoid the law's penls, even a wombatting cancer facing an uncertain future because of the law. they aren't lying. many promises made before the law's passage haven't and couldn't be kept. mr. walberg: americans have a right to feel frustrated. it's time america stops imposing a law that is clearly not working. we were promised lower costs, instead the president's own analysts reported 11 million people will see their premiums climb while their take-home pay

drops. house republicans offer a step-by-step, commonsense approach that does lower cost, provides access to quality care that people need. we remain focused on policy this is a grow the economy and make life better for all americans. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to adreads the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. gallego: thank you, mr. speaker. el paso, texas, has a rich and vast history spanning back hundreds of years. with the mission established in the 1600's, it has deep roots in catholicism but it wasn't until 1914 that the roman catholic diocese of el paso was established. on march 234erk diocese will celebrate its 100th anniversary. it provides invaluable services to 10 counties covering 27,000

miles of southwest texas. from the historic missions of isleta and others through the davis mountains and on to the big bend country, the diocese is rich in history. while these three missions are the focal point of the 100th birthday celebration, all the churches in the diocese play a critical rule and through the missions and where the priests and none still -- nuns still ride the circuit, it's had a great impact on young and old alike. i wish them great success over the next 100 years. thank you, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady from indiana seek to across the house in >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. >> i rise to encourage my colleagues to pass additional bipartisan iran sanction legislation. while we were hoping that the diplomatic efforts are

successful, congress must not neglect its responsibility to be prepared for all outcomes. changes to iran's new clear program have been minimal thus far and it continues to assert that it will not dismantle its nuclear pa facilities. iran's supreme leader shims predicted diplomatic talks will lead nowhere. iranian state television continues to air documents -- documentaries showing attacks on american forces as well. mrs. walorski: we have to show that the american people will not be swayed by rhetoric. we must stand together to reinforce our diplomatic quest for disarmament with the necessary tools to accomplish this goal. i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, i rise today to ask my colleagues to join me in

supporting clean energy initiative financing programs like pace to help people and businesses invest in renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies. thanks in part to increased energy efficiency, consumption of energy is down 5% nationally from 2007 levels. however, the growth of new renewable energy capacity has slowed down from 18 gig ba watts installed in 2012 to 5347b9 gigawatts in 2014. in part due to lack of access to capital. ace financing programs allow them to pay back the costs over a longer period of time. property owners can recoup their investments through trot assessments. property owners quickly increase the value of their properties. pace programs are voluntary and property owners across the country are eager to sign up.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from indiana seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection the gentleman from indiana is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. the president has unilaterally delayed the employer mandate again. it's hard not to blame him. last week, c.m.s. reported that 11 million americans who work at small businesses will have higher premiums tpwhifes president's health care law. the employer mandate will make this bad situation worse. that might be why the president decreed it will only apply to businesses with more than 100 employees instead of those with 50 employees as the law requires. at least for now. this is a needed temporary reprieve but it should be granted by congress, not presidential decree. mr. messer: the president's behavior is lawless, as "the washington post" described it, the president has shown and

quote -- a, quote, increasingly cavalier approach to picking and choosing how to enforce this law. i encourage our colleagues to co-sponsor h.r. 2577, the small business job protection act, my bill to permanently codify this relief. let's not forget that congress, not the president, makes the laws. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentlelady from texas seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. ms. jackson lee: i rise today pay tribute to the reverend crawford w. kimball, pastor emeritus of the good hope missionary baptist church, originated in freedman's town in 1872, and my dear friend my sympathy to mrs. kimball and his family. reverend kimball died earl yerer -- earlier this week in houston

at the age of 95678 he'll be laid to rest on saturday, march 21, 2014. he's the fifth of six pastors at the good hope missionary baptist church hetch served as pastor for approximately 35 years. his dream was part of the building of the good hope in its current location. reverend kimball was born in elgin, texas, on march 24, 1918 and followed ministerial path of both his father and grandfather he began preaching at 33, started his church in 1951 and joined it. he preached his first sermon in 1959 and became pastor to many giants of texas, the honorable barbara jordan, and dr. lonnie smith who played an important role in minority voting rights in primary elections. it's outstanding to find that prior to reverend kimball he was in the newspaper business as an editor of the "houston informer." he was also part of the kansas call, the oldest news --

african-american newspaper that ended with the account kansas city call" he was part of. after more than 30 year necessary are tirmente, kev rend kimball wonted to write. he was part of the crawford w. kimball community. mr. speaker, let me say to you that this giant this giant is deserving our our honor and respect and commendation and let us all remember his book, "watch the tree it might fall on you." reverend kimball may you rest in peace. god bless you and god bless your family. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady from florida seek recognition? ms. ros-lehtinen: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. ms. ros-lehtinen: i rise in solidarity with the women for life in venezuela. these women, headed by opposition leader maria cor rimbings na machado and the wife

of an opposition lead whore is in jail, they have dressed in white and carried white flowers as they march piece paesfully demanding that the madura government end its violent suppression of pro-democracy movements in venezuela. at least 14 people have been killed in protests by the state thugs of maduro and many more have been unjustly harassed, detained and beating. it is poignant that these women model themselves after the ladies of white in my native homeland of cuba because maduro seeks to do to the venezuelan dissenters what the castro brothers do to theirs, silence them through intimidation. this is a classic example of an autocratic regime's false notion that might is right but we must show maduro and other violators that the world is watching and we will not allow these transgressions to pass

unnoticed. i stand in solidarity with the women for life in venezuela and urge my colleagues to do the same. i thank the speaker for the time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady tees -- the gentlelady's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentlelady from nevada sec recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. ms. titus: i rise on behalf of the 1.9 million unemployed americans including nearly 21,000 in nevada, people struggling to put food on the table, a roof over their heads and gas in their car. despite the daily struggle these people have making ends meet while looking for a new good-paying job, house republicans have refused to bring a bill to the floor that would extend their critical lifeline. in fact, since the beginning of the 113th congress, house republicans have failed to bring a single jobs bill to the floor. the american people have made it clear that they want this congress to work to find

solutions that represent a balanced approach, not partisan ideology that is out of touch with their needs and priorities. i urge house republicans to set aside their due do-nothing agenda, address the serious challenges facing our country, and take meaningful action to achieve real results for the people we're sent here to serve. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute sgrsm thank you, mr. speaker. for more than four decades i have owned my own business. i'm a business guy. i can say with certainty that today's economy is the hardest economy our country has seen from a small business standpoint. taxes and regulations are killing businesses, stifling growth and preventing educated, qualified individuals from becoming job creators themselves. america's tax code deals smoft harshest penalties for those who contribute most to the economy. we have the highest corporate tax rate in the world and the top wage earners pay most of the

federal income tax. we need to cut the corporate rate to a real 25% and collapse the current six tax brackets to just two at 10% and 25%. we need to cut the capital gains tax, eliminate the inheritance tax. mr. williams: we need an improved r&d tax credit. and with these cuts we mood tone sure that hard-earned taxpayer tchars taken by the i.r.s. are no longer subject to waste, fraud, and abuse. in the end it's about simplifying and enabling businesses to compete worldwide putting more money into american's wallets creating cash flow and opportunity for america. it's a winning formula, it's worked before, let's try it again. in god we trust, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from michigan sec recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. chairman. yesterday, i signed a discharge

petition in an effort to force an up or down vote on legislation that i have co-sponsored and that's h.r. 1010 the fair minimum wage act. . that would increase the federal maim $10.10 over the period of a next few years giving up to 25 million americans a well deserved pay raise. mr. kildee: most americans who work at the minimum wage, many americans who work at the minimum wage live in poverty. i know that there are some in this body, particularly on the other side, who fundamentally don't even believe there ought to be a minimum wage. that's a minority view. republicans and democrats across the country believe that not only should we have a minimum wage, it ought to be increased. a recent poll shows 71% of americans favor an increase in the minimum wage.

so for those who believe that there ought to be a wage that is a living wage, it has to be a wage that does not put people in poverty. for that reason i urge my colleagues to sign the distarge petition and let's have a vote to give americans the raise that they deserve. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from utah seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman from utah is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, i want to congratulate all 230 american athletes that participated in the sochi olympics. i'm proud to say that 15 of these olympians were from my home state of utah and that seven of them won medals. mr. stewart: through their talent, skill, and dedication, they represented utah and our country very well. these utah athletes come from very different backgrounds. some are in the middle of their careers. some of them are military members. some were students. many of them were parents. they showed dedication and effort and the sacrifice can

lead to success. these athletes shouldn't inspire all of us to strive to achieve our goals. as a father i have seen their example inspire my six children. while these olympians weren't guaranteed a medal, that didn't stop them from achieving their goal. we should continue to look to these olympic athletes for inspiration, to become better, and to be more dedicated to our goals. even when it's tough. i wish these athletes good lubbling in the future. i thank them for their inspiration. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from california is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. climate change is real and it's happening now. to reduce the harmful effects of human cause greenhouse gas pollution, this nation and the

world must transition to clean energy sources. mr. lowenthal: that's why i'm here today to support wind power and for extending the renewable electricity production tax credit. my home state of california has been a leader in deploying this he key technology, and it has made dividends. wind powers over 2.1 million california homes, and california is the home to 21 wind manufacturing facilities which have helped to stimulate capital investments of over $11 billion. e california wind industry supports over 7,000 jobs, ranking california as the second highest wind related incubator in the nation. wind power is part of our energy portfolio of the future. let's make that future happen now and support the production tax credit. thank you. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from colorado seek

recognition? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from colorado is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, last week nonpartisan office of the chief actuary of the centers for medicare and medicaid reported that as many as 11 million small business employees throughout the united states may see their health care premiums rise after full implementation of obamacare. that means approximately 14% of men and women who are participating in the u.s. work force will have less take-home pay and higher cost for service that is they are forced to buy. mr. tipton: just last week i met with small businesses in grand junction, colorado, and discussed this issue. they told me about how they already provide affordable quality health care plans for their employees. however like many small businesses, they are concerned and confused about what the future holds for them under the president's health care law. we can provide certainty to businesses, families, and every american looking to have affordable and accessible health care, but the president's health

care law isn't the answer. almost every week there are new reports of increased costs and decreased access to care. why don't we put people first rather than putting government first? that is why i support replacement legislation such as h.r. 2300, making market based, affordable, and lower costs for our people. with that i yield back, mr. chairman. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentlelady from ohio seek recognition? ms. kaptur: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlelady from ohio is recognized. ms. kaptur: mr. speaker, i stand before you today to pay tribute o an american hero, mr. george sejavich who experienced firsthand the violence in key eve while peacefully standing in solidarity with the people of ukraine. an estream broadcaster, retired, for the voice of america, originally from chicago. he was one of many journalist who is experienced the ruthless violence first hand when he was

beaten by police forces. the attack left him bleeding in the street, surrounded by the shreds of the helmet that he had worn for protection, a motorcycle helmet, shattered by the beating. he was hospitalized after having suffered serious injuries. i commend him for his fortitude and continued resolve in standing for freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and freedom of press. the fundamentals of an open society. i urge our president to swiftly impose targeted financial and travel sanctions on any ukranian government official found to have endorsed this brutal violence and restrict all financial assistance offered by our country to ukraine only to those who are committed to upholding the rights of freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and freedom of press. let us praise him for his courage and inspiration standing at liberty's side. i yield back my remaining time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? >> address the house for one

minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from texas is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, i rise today to honor the naming of u.s. highway 75 in north texas as the sam johnson highway. mr. neugebauer: after my friend and your colleague, representative sam johnson. this monday over 200 gathered to attend the public sign unveiling ceremony in collin county, texas. this highway is a major artery in north texas area, and -- but the recognition it now provides is fitting but can never repay our congressman. mr. marchant lon --: for his sacrifice and service to our country. first in the u.s. air force during the korean and vietnam war, including seven years as a prisoner of war. after returning and being reunited with his family, he put years of hard work being a entrepreneurial home builder in his community. he went on to serve in the state legislature, and now serves as

the u.s. representative to collin county, which he calls home. i'm honored to work with him in this congress and on the ways and means committee. i would like to thank my friend, sam johnson, for his years of service to our communities and our nation, and thank you. yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentlelady from california seek recognition? without objection, the gentlelady is recognized for one minute. >> thank you. mrs. davis: mr. speaker, we need a government by the people and for the people, not a government run by the special interest and the corporations. how do we get there? first, we remove barriers to voting. from overcoming hurdles to absentee voting, and difficulty with registration, to long lines at the polls, more can be done to make sure that our elections work for all voters. we should take a good long look at the recommendations of the president's bipartisan electric

commission which listened to -- election commission which listened to vote hers and officials and bundled together the best ideas. second, we can't let the big money interest choose our leaders. we need public campaign financing like the bill recently introduce bide my colleague, representative sarbanes, of maryland. in the post citizens united world, the voices of special interests will be much louder than those of average americans unless, unless we act now and bring back government run by the people and for the people. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from florida seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman from florida is recognized for one minute. >> thank you very much, mr. speaker. for the last several weeks the people of venezuela have risen up to protest the corruption, the food shortage, soaring crime rates, and the alarming repression in venezuela. mr. diaz-balart: mr. speaker, since the protest began more than 500 people have been arrested.

approximately 150 injured, and over a dozen have been killed. it's disgraceful to think that the regime has managed to devastate the economy of latin america's largest oil fields. to the point where the people are facing shortage of goods. the president has intensified his tactics by increasing political rest and violence. lately the opposition as terrorists and enemy of the state, and expeling independent media such as crncrfpblet i urge the international community to aggressively express their commitment to the basic freedoms under assault in venezuela. i also, mr. speaker, urge our administration to at the very least demand that the o.a.s. immediately convene its permanent council to invoke the democratic charter since it has been clearly violated. now is the time to stand with the venezuelan people. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentlelady from hawaii seek recognition?

without objection, the gentlelady from hawaii is recognized for one minute. ms. hanabusa: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i rise today to commemorate the 92nd anniversary of lefter vs. garnett, where the supreme court upheld the 19th amendment which protects the woman's right to vote. our nation's sufficient fra gets stood up to the injustice. they fought for their rights. without their perseverance and fearlessness, i and many of my colleagues would not be standing here today. these suffragettes represent a long line of women who said no to the status quo, inspiring future leaders like our very own congresswoman patsy mink, from hawaii, who authored title 9, an historic milestone for equality in women's sports. today we honor the sacrifices of these suffragettes and recommit ourselves to further equality, whether it means breaking the glass ceiling or lifting the floor beneath their feet. note that women make up 2/3 of

the minimum wage workers, increasing the minimum wage to $10.10 is critical for our nation's hardworking women struggling to pull their families out of poverty. it is time for my colleagues to recognize this. in the legacy of the suffragettes, we'll continue to fight for what women deserve. equality. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from arkansas seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman from arkansas is recognized for one minute. >> yesterday, i introduced the local act, a bill allowing the u.s. army corps of engineers to restore joint management programs with local nonprofit organizations to construct, off pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, and maintain recreational facilities at lakes and reservoirs across the country. mr. cotton: despite years of successful operation, the corps recently determined they lacked the authority to continue these joint management programs. and are in the process of suspending all local partnerships. arkansans know better than

anyone how to manage our lands and cuts to the corps' budget shouldn't dictate our ability to enjoy these facilities. for years local groups have successfully maintained recreational facilities across our state. arkansas is known as the natural state. one of our greatest points of pride is access to public lands and water. the local act will ensure that facilities like lake wash at that and beaver lake remain easily accessible for future generations. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore:, the gentleman from new jersey is recognized for one minute. mr. holt: mr. speaker, we adults ask students to be model citizens, to devote themselves to their studies, to become tomorrow's leaders. but what is our message when their leaders can't even assure a school building that passes code inspection? every day the students at trenton central high school attempt to learn in a building

that suffers from electrical fires due to poor wiring, bathroomater, dripping sewage, absence of science labs, and indignities. to fix these problems and provide trenton students with the facility worthy of students and teachers for the 21st century it is projected to cost $130 million, to bring all of new jersey's schools up to code will cost several billions of dollars. many states cannot manage that cost alone. ewe need to devote federal funds to school renovation. with a mod e-- model infrastructure we can ask our students to become the community and world leaders we want them to be. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman from california is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker.

the administration has declared this week to be national latino enrollment week in hopes of a mounting special push, a big rush of latinos rushing to sign up for the affordable care act because it's supposedly going to help their lives in so many ways. mr. denham: yet latinos nationwide, like millions of other americans, are discovering they can't afford the affordable care act. not only sit causing home to lose coverage but they also see their premiums rise and have their health care plans canceled. the spanish site the administration promised would help people enroll reads like it was written by a first-year spanish student and has proven to have more problems than the actual english version of healthcare.gov. but we live in the central valley, latinos already struggle to access doctors. we have a huge shortage of doctors, doctors willing to take medicare, medicaid, because of

the reimbursement rates. now with the affordable care act we'll have fewer doctors and less access. health care reform that doesn't increase their access is meaningless. the affordable care act has also heightened their struggles. mr. speaker, we must repeal and replace this damaging law with one that benefits latino community and millions of others across the country. thank you, mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the chair lays before the body the following enrolled bill. the clerk: h.r. 2431, aptookt re-authorize the national integrated drought information ystem. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the house resolution 487 and rule 18, the chair declares the house in the committee of the whole nell -- committee of the whole house on the state of the union for further consideration of h.r. 2804. would the gentleman from kansas, mr. yoder, kindly take the chair.

the chair: the house is in the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for further consideration of h.r. 2804, which the clerk will report by title. the clerk: a bill tie mend title 5 of the united states code to require the administrator of the office of administration and regulatory affairs to publish information about rules on the internet and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: when -- the chair: when the committee of the whole rose on february 26, amendment number 6, printed in house report 113-361, offered by the gentleman from colorado, mr. tipton, had been dispoed of. it is now in order to consider amendment number seven printed in house report 113-361. for what purpose does the gentleman from virginia seek recognition? mr. connolly: i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerk will

designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number seven printed in house report 113-361, offered by mr. connolly of virginia. the chair: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from virginia, mr. connolly and a member opposed each will control five minutes. the gentleman from virginia is recognized. mr. connolly: i thank the chairman and yield myself such time as i may consume. the chair: the gentleman is recognized. no surprise it's that the 2012 american lung association report found that americans support the clean air act by a 2-1 margin. why? because it's working. harmful emissions are dropping. air quality is better than it was a decade ago. but we still have 131 million fellow americans, 32% of the population, living in communities where the levels are deemed harmful for at-risk populations -- young people and

senior citizens. the national capital region is one of those areas for ground level ozone. it's clear what my friends on the other side of the aisle think about government regulation but i'm curious if they've asked their constituent what is they think. i wond for the residents living downstream from the west virginia chemical spill where toxic substance has carried into neighboring ohio and other points south and west have the same disdain for water regulation on the other side aisle. or what about the coal ash bill affecting drinking -- coal ash spill which is affecting drig walter thereunder there and in my home state of virginia. maybe we should ask the millions of parents who own one of the car safety seats subject to a nationwide recall if they'd feel more comfortable with less

rigorous safe -- safety standards for their which i. i asked for an amendment to exempt child safety standards from this rule so there would continue to be regular haitian but my friends on the other side of the aisle oppose that three of out of four respondents felt we shouldn't have to choose between a health and safety standard and promoting the economy. they understand that's a false choice and we can and must do both. my friend on the other side of the aisle continue to perpetuate this canard, the government -- that government regular sleighs a heavy boot on the neck of business in america. another poll conducted by the american sustainable business council found 7 -- found 7 % of employers believe responsible regulation is important to protecting small businesses from unfair competition and leveling the playing field.

in fact, the most recent wells fargo gallup index of small businesses found just 11% cited regulation as a significant challenge when rated against other challenges they face in the economic marketplace. employers and the american people get it, mr. chairman. they recognize that there's a role for fair, reasonable, responsible regulation in protecting public safety and health and promoting the economy. again, the american lung association poll found a 2-1 majority believes environmental safeguards will spur innovation and investment and create jobs. now i understand the frustration expressed by some of my colleagues that the currenting we laer to process can be too long. sometimes it is. averaging four to eight years in some cases. but the bill before us today will do nothing to reduce that timeline. stin -- instead it prolongs the process by require manager redundant analysis. how iron sick that? this bill would strengthen the

hand of special interests by allowing them to challenge federal agencies on whether they assessed every possible alternative and chose the one least costly to it. there bill would erect new hurdles for sints to protect their -- petition their government to finally act on long overdue or congressionally mandated safeguards and protections. mr. chairman, i urge my colleagues to support this amendment and to beat back these tired, hackneyed efforts by my friends on the other side who, on behalf of corporate polluters have proposed this legislation. our constituents expect safe drinking water, reliable childcare safety seats, clean air and countless other protections. let's work together to improve the regulatory process rather than gut it and return our communities to the law of the jungle. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia seek recognition? >> i rise in opposition to the

amendment. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. air quality regulations do serve important goals and i agree with my friend from across the aisle. mr. collins: however the bill interpretation in and ours are different. the bill does nothing achieve these goal bus air and water regulations have been the source of many of the most abusive regulations in history. air regulations inflibted the harms on rob james, avon lake, bob sales and his workers, alan puckett and his workers that i mentioned in my opening statement and discussion yesterday. to remove these areas of the bill would weaken their reforms to low they are cost of federal regulation. in looking that the amendment, in looking at the discussion that was just had, mr. speaker, by the gentleman offering, it goes back to a tired argument that is not worthy of debate on

this floor. for the object -- to present an amendment is fipe. to present an amendment to say you don't like the way we're wanting to do that is fine but to retread and rework the idea that i or my children or anybody else's children want to breathe dirty air or dirty watt ore have child seats fall apart -- child restraints be broken or anything else is just not worthy of debate here on this floor. let's take the bill, i'll take your amendment, and i'll -- it's offered in good faith. but when we look at this bill, we're looking at jobs and again the argument made to protect the government bureaucracy from more work is not also an accurate statement, especially when those of the men and women, the workers, i said it yesterday, i'll say it again. you want a clear determination on what party is looking out for who, look out for government workers and more regulation or look out for the moms and dads

who photowork, to earn their live, to take care of their families to breathe clean air and have safety environments in a limited regulatory reform which is what our founders intended. that's what we do here. i urge a no vote on this amendment and reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from virginia has 30 seconds remaining. mr. connolly: i thank the chair. gosh if there's a tired debate on this floor my good friend from georgia has just identified. it's that hackneyed phrase, crushing burden of regulation. that would come as news to most americans who have benefited from clean air regulations, which by the way has net created jobs, not destroyed them, and the republican narrative here couldn't be more false except that they're protecting their base, their corporate base, in my view at the expense of the average american sint who wants to bring -- to breathe clean air, wants to drink clean water

and wants to protect their children. with that i yield back, mr. hairman. the chair: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman is recognized. mr. crawford -- mr. collins: i'm aplaced that my friend across the aisle, i'm not sure when you look at the workers i've named and look at the business owners who come to my office an discuss the fact that their jobs are being lost, things are being taken because of regulatory burden, it is. the tired argument here is not the fact that -- the honest argument here is what is the role we're supposed to be doing? where is the government role that should be there, should provide good regulatory reform and i think would actually say that providing hurdles to keeping regulatory reform open. what we're saying is we want it transparent. we want businesses to be a part and have anything said less and to say again, to rehash an argument that implies that others want to breathe dirty air.

to drink dirty water. and in any way harm the american people by simpley bringing sense to our regulatory process is just simply a straw man when you've got nothing else to talk about, just throw the kitchen sink at it. i yield back. the chair: all time having expire the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from virginia. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair the noes have it. the amendment is not agreed to. mr. connolly: mr. chairman. on that matter i ask for a recorded vote. the chair: a recorded vote is requested. pursuant to clause 6 of rule 18 further proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from virginia will be postponed testimony now in order to consider amendment number eight printed in house report 113-361. for what purpose does the gentlelady from texas sec recognition? ms. jackson lee: i have an amendment at the desk. the chair: the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number eight prinned in house report

113-361 offered by ms. jackson lee of texas. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 487, the gentlelady rom texas and a member opposed each will be recognized for five minutes. ms. jackson lee: i rise to speak in favor of the jackson lee amendment with great enthusiasm. this amendment exempts rules made or any consent decree or settlement made as a result of this rule. i don't think we need to further educate our very diligent members whether on the homeland security or judiciary and intelligence committee, armed services or many other committees, about the new climate in which we live in this world after 9/11. we simply have to look at the landscape we are around as we speak. central african republic, south sudan, ukraine, vens way lark

nigeria and syria. just a few days ago, i was on the israeli side of the syrian border and i could look into a city very close and see constant mortar fires. everybody understands that with the new climate of franchise terrorism, al qaeda travels from one conflict area to another, each time posing a threat to the united states of america or the west and yet we have legislation that does not exempt the actions of the secretary of homeland security who may be required to make emergency decisions. this particular legislation has 60 new barriers, procedurals requirements before an important rule making can go forward. it requires a six-month online presence before you can move forward. t. . i would offer the crisis in ukraine which americans are standing on the side of those

who believe in testimonycy, the fighting in nigeria between christians and muslims and the conflict in syria that has a terrible impact as we move forward on the palestinian and israeli peace process. how can we not exempt the secretary of homeland security? mr. chairman, not only do we deal with issues of terrorism, but we also stand up agency when america faces natural disasters. for example, hurricane rita was the fourth most powerful atlantic storm in history, made landful when 120 miles per hour winds had devastating consequences to many of my texas constituents that occurred just a few years ago. hurricane sandy, hurricane rita came out of the gulf, but hurricane sandy came out of the east coast and the atlantic waters, and came up and brought havoc that no one ever expected. fema was vital in the restoration of the lives of

americans. in that instance i would think that we'd want any rule making process to move quickly to be able to bring aid to those in need. as indicated, this is a question of national security and the protection of our people. we need swift responses to imminent threats to national security. and as well we need to have the flexibility to the secretary of homeland security to make those decisions. 2804 was created under the guise of increasing agency transparency. i would offer to say that there are instance when is all of us know that our security is crucial. mr. chairman, i ask that my colleagues support this exemption for homeland security to protect america's homeland and national security. with that i reserve my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves her time. for what purpose does the gentleman from virginia seek recognition? mr. goodlatte: i rise in opposition to the amendment. the amendment seeks to shield the department of homeland security, a department in need

of good government reform, from all of the government rule making reforms in this bill. we should not do that. the bill does not threaten needed regulation in the department of homeland security's jurisdiction, but simply assures the d.h.s. will avoid unnecessary regulation, issue smarter, less costly regulation when necessary, and not enter into sweetheart backroom deals for more regulation under the cloak of judicial orders. so i urge my colleagues to oppose the amendment and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentlelady from texas is recognized. ms. jackson lee: i thank the gentleman very much. we obviously have a great deal of mutual respect, i hope, but great deal of disagreement on the intent and the impact of his legislation. let me say the homeland security has vast jurisdiction, congress created it. in the course of this it has

great deal of jurisdiction dealing with humanity. and the necessity to help humanity. so in the crisis of dealing with issues of individuals who have been unfairly put in front of a deportation order, who need to have the response of this agency or the agency needs to correct some aspect of the many responsibilities that it has, from natural disaster to terrorism to ensuring the security of the border, from the knees of the customs and border protection, from the needs of i.c.e. officers, regulatory scheme that will give them better tools to ensure the security of this nation, i would argue that a six-month delay, that 60 barriers that are being put in place of that regulatory scheme does not give comfort to the american people that their homeland is secure. give the secretary of homeland ecurity and his fellow secretaries or assistant

secretaries or directors the responsibility and the leadership that they need to have to protect the homeland. i would just offer to say that my amendment is common sense. it deals with consent orders and settlements that the homeland security secretary's making in the course of making america safe. please support the jackson lee amendment, common sense, security, protecting the homeland, and having us do the job that we should be doing on behalf of the american people. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. the gentleman from virginia is recognized to close. mr. goodlatte: thank you, mr. chairman. i do respect the concerns raised by the gentlewoman from texas. the department of homeland security has vast jurisdiction, however, and it is an agency cobbled together, department cobbled together with authorities from a whole host of other areas, and they have not always made things work very

effectively there. and one of the things that they need is more disciplined and more guidance in terms of how regulations are written, and that's exactly what this legislation does. the gentlewoman raises a legitimate concern with regard to the speed with which regulations can be issued in certain emergency circumstances. i'd call her attention to section 653 of the legislation, which covers just those circumstances in which the president can take action swiftly because of an imminent threat to health or safety or other emergency. as a result of that this amendment is not -- not needed because it takes the department complete will i out of the reforms provide -- completely out of the reforms provided in this bill and therefore i must continue to my opposition to the amendment. i urge my colleagues to do the same. i would be happy to yield. ms. jackson lee: i thank the gentleman for his explanation. we have noted 653, you are

absolutely right, thrust in the hands of the president of the united states, but i would argue that the congress created homeland security department with a secretary to be able to be the first line of defense, and i would argue that it is important that we exempt the secretary, the department from that because of their number one responsibility is securing the homeland. and we live in a different climate. i think the gentleman accepts the fact that terrorism has become franchised at this moment. i thank the gentleman for yielding. i ask individuals to again support the jackson lee amendment. i yield back. mr. goodlatte: i thank the gentlewoman. i'm not persuaded that the department of homeland security, especially with the provision that provides for emergency relief from many of the provisions of the bill, can't be greatly benefited in all those who have to deal with the department of homeland security will not be greatly benefited if the department is operating more effectively and if the regulation today promulgate our

more efficient and more effective and more addressed toward what really needs to be done to address problems and not simply adding to the regulatory burden that businesses and american citizens face. so i continue my opposition to the amendment. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. le all time having expired, the question is on the amendment offered by the gentlelady from texas. all those in favor will say aye. all those oppose ld say no. in the opinion of the chair, the noes have t the amendment is not agreed to. the gentlelady from texas. ms. jackson lee: i request the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: does the gentlelady request a recorded vote? ms. jackson lee: i request a recorded vote. the speaker pro tempore: a recorded vote --- chris: a recorded vote is requested. pursuant to clause 6 of rule 18, further proceedings on the amendment from the gentlelady from texas will be postponed. it is now in order to consider amendment number 9, for what purpose does the gentlelady from texas seek recognition? ms. jackson lee: mr. chairman, i have an amendment at the desk. amendment number nine.

as the designee of mr. johnson. chris: the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 9, printed in house report number 113-361, offered by ms. jackson lee of texas. chris: pursuant to house resolution 487, the gentlelady from texas, ms. jackson lee, and a member opposed, each will control five minutes. the chair now recognizes the gentlelady from texas. ms. jackson lee: as i indicated i'm moving this on he behalf of mr. johnson. the amendment is simple. it would exclude from this bill any rule that would result in net job growth. i ask that my colleagues support this commonsense amendment to promote job growth and strengthen the middle class. after all the stated purpose of the act is to grow the economy and create jobs. although this bill purports to grow the economy, create jobs, we cannot pretend that this bill's myopic focus on regulations will accomplish any of these goals. i have profound concerns with the alert act. the bill would undermine the ability of agencies to protect the public interest. it is a continuation of the

majority's obstructionist approach that led to the shut dunn of the federal government. they continue to rely on partisan studies that presuppose that regulation vs. harmful effects. far from it. there is ample bipartisan evidence that found that regulation vs. a negligible effect on the economy and create jobs. no one would argue that there is not a positive impact on the clean water act and clean air act. and all of the regulatory schemes that is provided for, safe workplace for our workers under osha, and those who protect the quality of life of americans from sea to shining sea. leading scholars such as wake forest law professor, contradicts the claim that regulatory uncertainty is deterring business investment. bruce bartlett, a senior policy analyst in the reagan and george h.w. bush administration, has observed that regulatory uncertainty is a cue nard, invented by republicans that allow them to use current

economic problems to pursue an agenda supported by the business community year in and year out. in other words, it is a simple case of political opportunityism, not a serious effort to deal with high unemployment. nevertheless, the house republican leadership continues to bulldoze deregulatory agenda through congress. this train wreck threatens to send us back to the days before the wall street collapse, finance catastrophe that could have been avoided by responsible policy. instead of working together to come to a bipartisan solution, this congress is continuing an agenda to make life worse for american families. i urge all of my colleagues to support the johnson amendment. with that i reserve my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady from texas reserves. for what purpose does the gentleman from virginia seek recognition? mr. goodlatte: i rise in opposition to the amendment. chris: the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. mr. goodlatte: thank you, mr. chairman. i welcome the gentlewoman's concerns about the imfacts of regulations on jobs, but i submit that the right way to address that concern is to join

me in supporting the rothfus-barr amendment that make sure agencies do a much better job identifying adverse job impacts before they impose them. the gentlewoman's amendment offered on behalf of the gentleman from georgia, unfortunately, would have the opposite effect. that is because it would give the executive branch a strong incentive toe manipulate its jobs impact and cost benefit analyses to avoid the requirements of the bill. the amendment also puts the cart before the horse. offering carve outs from the bill based on factors that cannot be determined adequately unless the important analytical requirements in the bill are applied in the first place. i urge my colleagues to oppose the amendment and reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman from virginia reserves. ms. jackson lee: a few minutes ago i stood on the floor of the house and showed a picture that has been made by my good friend from california, mr. garamendi, of a long line of suit wearing

americans looking for jobs. and yet this congress, my friends on the other side of the aisle, have refused to pass the extended unemployment insurance, emergency unemployment insurance. yet they pass legislation or put legislation on the floor pretending to create opportunities for american workers. i can tell you what will create opportunities for american workers is extend the unemployment insurance. or pass my legislation, h.r. 3888, that provides training for individuals for newly created job skills. or in fact as so many of us have done, sign the discharge petition, to raise the minimum wage. that's a story for creating jobs or lifting up the opportunities for the american people. this amendment says simply, if you join us and you believe in job growth, if there is a regulatory that deals with job growth. then this is the amendment that

you should support. and i would argue you should support the increase in the minimum wage and today we should put on the floor of the house the extension of the unemployment insurance, the emergency insurance for my constituents, and americans across america. 1. million in 2013 rising to -- 1.3 million in 2013, rising to two million now. no excuse when the other body had a bill that was paid for and yet it was refused by republican senators. in the other body. i would simply ask that we work together to create job growth. this amendment will say to my good friends that if it creates jobs then we should, in fact, support it. that particular regulation. we should not subject it to this legislation. with that i ask for the support of this amendment and i reserve -- yield back my time. the chair: the gentlelady yields back the balance of her time. the gentleman from virginia is recognized. four minutes remaining. mr. goodlatte: mr. chairman, i

would reiterate that the right way to address the concern about the impact of regulations on jobs, to join me in supporting the rothfus-barr amendment that would make sure that agencies do a much better job of identifying adverse job impacts before they impose them on the businesses and individuals that have to make the tough decisions to close businesses like the family that manufactures bricks. they have to eliminate 2/3 of the jobs in their business because of repeated government regulations, making it less and less likely that they can grow their business, much less add jobs and are facing the loss of jobs and possibly the loss of the business altogether. the way to do this is to figure out the impact on jobs before you impose the regulation and that's what the barr-rothfus

amendment does, i support that i oppose this and i yield back. the chair: all time having expired, the question is on the amendment offered by the gentlelady from texas. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the noes have it. the amendment is not agreed to. ms. jackson lee: mr. chairman, i request a recorded vote. the chair: a recorded vote is requested. pursuant to clause of of rule 18, further proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentlelady from texas will be post-poped. it is now in order to consider amendment number 10 printed in house report 113-361. for what purpose does the gentleman from california sec recognition? mr. miller: i offer amendment number 10. the chair: the clerk wiz designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 10 offered by mr. george miller of alifornia. the chair: pursuant to house resolution 487, the gentleman from california, mr. miller and a member opposed each will control five minutes. the chair recognizes the

gentleman from california. mr. miller: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to offer an amendment to this misguided piece of legislation. this bill would impose layers of red tape and erect new obstacles to protecting american lives. congress already has the power to disapproval any rule through the congressional review act as well as through appropriations bills and other legislation if it disagrees with the regulation. this new imposition of nearly 60 additional analytical and procedural requirements is a -- is an effort to impose a choke hold on american citizens. one regulation that would be affect sad proposal by osha to prevent a litany of workplace fires and explosions caused by combustible dust. it's been abundantly clear for a decade that federal regulatory action is needed to prevent combustible dust explosions and firesful mir amendment would prevent today's bill from getting in the the way of this much-needed regulation. this amendment is necessary to

protect workers' lives. in 2003, the chemical safety board found that the existing proteches to stop explosions was grossly inadequate. a board study has identified hundreds of combustible dust fires and explosion -- explosion this is a caused at least 119 fatalities over the last 15-year period. the investigators are not alone in demanding action. tammy miser of kentucky testified before congress about her brother shaun who was killed in a metal dust fire in an aluminum wheel plant in huntington, indiana new york 2003. he was left liing there on the smoldering floor after the plosion while alum none dust burned through his flesh and muscle tissue and breathing the dust caused his organs to burn. it's been more than six years since the imperial sugar explosion in georgia that killed 14 workers and resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars of damage because of the

unchecked accumulation of sugar dust ignited. these workplace explosions have not stopped. more recently three workers were killed in an explosion in west virginia. flames shot in all directions, two brothers died from the heat and smoke inside the building. another manmade it out but suffered burns over most of his bod kwlism died four days laettner a pittsburgh hospital. all because the factly lacked adequate controls to manage metal powders. in another incident five workers were killed in three separate events in north nashville cause of iron powder processing plants failed to abate repeated dust hazards. each of the five left behind had a wife and child. one had four children under 11. these widowed called for the government to protect them and it's up to us do to -- to do system of the board has declared an osha combustible dust rule is

one of the most wanted safety protections. in 2009, osha finally started working on a rule to reduce the risk of these explosions. the rule making will involve small businesses, panels, risk assessments, public hearings and an opportunity to comment. despite the clear immediate to move forward, it would give special interests new ways to block these vital protections. the sad truth is the underlying bill is nothing more than an effort to put a powerful interest above the lives and limbs of working families and their widows. i urge my colleagues to support this amendment. i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: does the gentleman wish to yield or reserve? mr. miller: i reserve. the chair: for what purpose does the gentleman from virginia seek recognition? >> i rise in opposition to the amendment. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. goodlatte: i share the gentleman's concern about the kinds of explosions that he is

concerned about and wanting to see appropriate ways to deal with these problems through the regulatory process but it's pretty clear that osha has dope a poor job of it thus far and i believe that this legislation will help to improve the rule making process, create greater transparency, so we'll get to a resolution of what needs to be done and not do what does not need to be done in the most effective way. the amendment attempted to shield yet another agency in need of good government reform from all the good government rule make regular forms in the bill. the pill does not threaten needed regulation in osha's jurisdiction but assure this is a osha will avoid unnecessary regulation. issue smarter, less costly regulation when necessary. and not enter into sweetheart backroom deals for more regulation under the cloak of judicial orders. ironically, the amendment actually could slow down the progress of improving safety in workplaces of concern.

the whole point of the bill is to ensure that regulation remainsesquive while imposing lower costs. if employers could spend less money on equally effective dust regulations then they would be fre to invest in adecisional safety measures on their own or of course they could use the money to hire more workers. and pay higher wages. i urge my colleagues to oppose the amendment and reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman from virginia reserves, the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. miller: i thank the gentleman for his comments. i would just say that osha has already undertaken these standards but if this legislation passes, all the processes and procedures in this underlying legislation would have to go first. the fact is people are dying at work, they're dying at work because of the fact that they haven't been able to get the standard in place. this is a very serious standard that directly relates to the lives of these workers in the

workplace and to suggest now that they would have to go through this process, if this becomes a law is just unacceptable when you consider the urgency of this -- of this matter. when we took up this question of grain dust, grain dust explosions, which are some of the most powerful explosions that can take place, that look like a place has been hit by tons of tnt, it was killing workers, those grain -- they -- they reduced the number of fatalities by 0% -- 70% and you rarely hear about grain explosions any longer but dust explosions is the kind of problem that threatens workers on a daily basis when they report to work in industries where the standards are not adequate to protect the workers. as i pointed out in my opening statement, across the number of different industries that dust orlection, whether it's iron

sugar or wheat dust, becomes a huge explosive device that continues to take the lives of workers. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from virginia is recognized to close with 3 1/2 minutes remaining. mr. goodlatte: thank you, mr. chairman. in response to the gentleman from california, let me say that with regard to the efforts that need to be undertaken when a regulatory process is already under way is a -- is accommodated for in the bill in 553-g, subsection 2-a, when they find and incourt rate the findings that compliance with subsection c, d, or e or requirements to render final requirements before the issuance of an interim rule is impracticable or contrary to the public interest, inclausing interests of national security, such subsebses or requirements to render final determinations

shall not apply to the agency's adoption of an interim rule. i would argue that this -- that this is going to improve and enhance the process and create more transparency, more cost-effective rule making and prevent lawsuits being brought, the so-called sue and settle lawsuits where a friendly government agency is intide an organization that wants something, the settlement of the suit leaves out all the party whors going to have to provide for it, pay for it have the impact on their workers, they don't get notice of that so all these reforms are good reform this is a make the regulatory process better and i do not believe it would be appropriate to adopt this amendment. i urge my colleagues to oppose it and yield back. the chair: the gentleman yields back. all time having expired, the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from california. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair the noes have it. the amendment is not agreed to. mr. miller: i can for the yeas

and nays. recorded vote. the chair: pursuant to clause 6 of rule 18, further proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman will be postponed. it is now in order to consider amendment number 11 printed in house report 113-36 1. for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? mr. miller: to offer amendment number 11 and speak in support of it. the chair: the clerk will designate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 11 printed in house report 113-361, offered by mr. george mill over california. chip pour sunt to house resolution 487, the gentleman from california, mr. miller, and a member opposed each will control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentlelady from california. mr. miller: i rise to offer an amendment that would exempt from his bill any regulations authored by the inspector general. these would increase the effectiveness of agency

activities. inspector generals are the public's independent watchdogs, they seek to find out what's gone wrong and how to improve the efficient soif government. my amendment would ensure that the i.g. recommendations wouldn't be buried in mountains of red tape. the department of labor's inspector general found that they had regulations with gaping loophole this is a aloud mine operators to violate mine safety standards and evade sanctions and continue to operate unsafe minds. -- mines. they exploited these in the upper big branch mine in west virginia, consistently putting coal production ahead of safety, with many violations in the months before the dent that killed several miners. the inspector general found that potentially life-saving sanctions had never been used over the 32-year period.

the price of that was the miners' lifes. the inspector general found that the rule was by design set up to be gamed and recommended closing prevent 1,800 nd injuries per decade. had the bill's requirement required an agency to use the least costly rule, these dangerous loopholes would be left in place. after every mine tram di, elected officials mourn the dead and say they'll take action to make sure they happen again. then congress comes along and works overtime to pass legislation like this that would that would ck rules help. i yield my remaining time to mr. courtney. mr. courtney: the inspector general's office also makes new and better regulations. the department of education

provides more than $150 billion every year in aid to more than college students with grants and low cost loans. an alarming audit issued just this past week by this the department of education's i.g. found we need to crack down on shysters and fraud rings related to long distance education. despite the education department's recent work to curning this, they found that sophisticated criminals are able to scam the government. they you ared the department to create new rules to ensure that billions of dollars it offers in financial aid are not offered to people who take advantage of our resources and siphon off resource this is a students and families desperately need. this bill would cripple and hamper that necessary work. the legislation before us would also hamper the d.o.e. from moving forward with other inspector general recommendations to reduce student loan defaults, root out wasteful spending and strengthen the overall accountability of

our nation's higher education programs. the bill's lengthy list of at least 60 additional procedures would add years to the rule making process and significantly hamstring d.o.e.'s ability to adopt regulations that protect taxpayers and students in a timely manner this would ensure that this bill does not compromise the ability of agencies to follow up on i. fwmplet recommendations and protect taxpayers from waste, fraud, and abuse. everyone who patted themselveses on the back about the student loan bill last summer, you are crippling the ability of this country to help students and families pay for college, which we need as a nation. lest adopt the miller amendment to protect the inspector generals' integrity to good -- get good reforls. i yield back my time. the chair: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from virginia is -- for what purpose does the gentleman from virginia seek recognition? mr. goodlatte: i rise in opposition to the amendment. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for five minutes.

mr. goodlatte: when they recommend that old regulations e modified, they try to convey -- by shielding agencies from the bill's transparency and accountability requirements, the amendment would help them do just that. it would further entrench the ability of recalcitrant agencies of inspectors general and continue their habits of waste, fraud and abuse, especially in these times of fiscal austerity, we must do everything we can to make sure that they pay heed to inspectors general recommendations and purge all waste, fraud and abuse from their operation. the alert act includes powerful tools to make them do just that. i ask my colleagues to oppose the amendment and i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from california

actually has one minute remaining. mr. miller: i was assuming that when the gentleman was speaking about the effectiveness of the inspector general report that he was going to join in support of the amendment. guess i misunderstood that. the point is this, in the case i cited, the inspector general came in and found out the agency wasn't using the powers that it had and needed additional powers for minors that were trying -- miners that were trying to avert the safety laws of this nation. again, that's not -- that's not an action that should be delayed. that's not a finding by one party or the other or one group of people in the congress or the other. that's the inspector general. and they looked at the situation and said that this was leading to increased likelihood of accidents and deaths on behalf of miners and that the rules had to be changed and they had to be changed right away. i don't know why we would interrupt this process and

that's the point of this amendment, that this congress has a lot of trust, i believe, in the inspector generals and we should not get in and put them -- make them run over a lot of hoops when the urgency is the matter. the chair: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. miller: i yield back. the chair: all time having expired, the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from california. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the noes have it. the amendment is not agreed to. the gentleman from california. mr. miller: i ask for a recorded vote. the chair: a recorded vote is requested. pursuant to clause 6 of rule 18, further proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from california will e postponed. pursuant to clause 6 of rule 18, proceedings will now resume on those amendments printed in house report 113-361 on which further proceedings were postponed in the following order -- amendment number 3 by mr. rothfus of pennsylvania, amendment number 7 by mr. connolly of virginia, amendment number 8 by ms. jackson lee of texas, amendment number 9 by ms. jackson lee of texas, amendment number 10 by mr.

miller of california, amendment number 11 by mr. miller of california. the chair will reduce to two minutes the minimum time for any electronic vote after the first vote in the series. the unfinished business is the request for a recorded vote on amendment number 3 printed in house report 113-361 by the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. rothfus, on which further proceedings were postponed and on which the ayes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 3 printed in house report 113-361 offered by mr. rothfus of pennsylvania. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for a recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this will be a 15-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the chair: on this vote the yeas are 249. the nays are 162. the amendment is adopted. the unfinished business is the request for a recorded vote on amendment number 6 printed in house report 113-361 by the gentleman from virginia, mr. connolly, on which further proceedings were postponed and on which the noes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 7 printed in house report 113-361 offered by mr. connolly of virginia. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for a recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this will be a two-minute vote.

[captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the chair: on this vote the yeas are 181. the nays are 235. the amendment is not adopted. the unfinished business is the request for a recorded vote on amendment number 8 printed in house report 113-361 by the gentlelady from texas, ms. jackson lee, on which further proceedings were postponed and on which the noes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 8 printed in house report 113-361 offered by ms. jackson lee of texas. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for a recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this will be a two-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or

commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the chair: on this vote the yeas are 180. the nays are 232. the amendment is not adopted. the unfinished business is the request for a recorded vote on amendment number 9 printed in house report 113-361 by the gentlelady from texas, ms. jackson lee, on which further proceedings were postponed and on which the noes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 9 printed in house report 113-361 offered by ms. jackson lee of texas. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for a recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having

arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this will be a two-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the chair: on this vote the yeas are 179. the nays are 235. the amendment is not adopted. the unfinished business is the request for recorded vote on amendment number 10, printed in house report 113-361, by the gentleman from california, mr. miller, on which further proceedings were postponed and on which the noes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk are redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 10, printed in house report number 113-361, offered by mr. george miller of california. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this will be a two-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the chair: thoit the yeas are 183. the nays are 229. the amendment is not adopted. the unfinished business is the request for recorded vote on amendment number 11, printed in house report 113-361, by the gentleman from california, mr. miller, on which further proceedings were postponed and on which the noes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 11, printed in house report number

113-361, offered by mr. george miller of california. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this will be a two-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the chair: the yeas are 181. the nays are 232. the amendment is not adopted. the question is on the amendment in the nature of a substitute as amended. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the amendment is adopted. accordingly, under the rule, the committee rises.

the chair: mr. speaker the committee of the whole house on the state of the union has had under consideration h.r. 2804, and pursuant to house resolution 487, i report the bill back to the house with an amendment adopted in the committee of the whole. the speaker pro tempore: the chair of the committee of the whole house on the state of the union reports that the committee has had under consideration the bill h.r. 2804, and, pursuant to house resolution 487, reports the bill back to the house with an amendment adopted in the committee of the whole. under the rule the previous question is ordered. is a separate vote demanded on any amendment to the amendment reported from the committee of

the whole? if not, the question is on adoption of the amendment in the nature of a substitute as amended. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the amendment is agreed to. the question is on engrossment and third reading of the bill. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. third reading. the clerk: a bill to amend title 5 united states code to require the administrator of the office of information and regulatory affairs to publish information about rules on the internet, and or other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: the ouse will come to order. he house will come to order.

for what purpose does the gentlewoman from connecticut seek recognition? miss tea -- >> i have a motion to recommit at the desk. the speaker pro tempore: is the gentlewoman opposed to the bill? ms. esty: i am in its present courtroom. the speaker pro tempore: the clark will report the motion. ms. esty: i ask unanimous consent to suspense -- suspend with the reading. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, suspend with the reading. he house will come to order. the gentlewoman is recognized for five minutes. ms. esty: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, this is the final amendment to the bill which will not kill the bill or send it back to committee. if adopted the bill will immediately proceed to final passage as amended. mr. speaker, let's be reasonable here. this bill before us is an ideological attempt to weaken and delay all regulations. even those that he protect consumers and small businesses,

help veterans, and keep our family safe. i think we can all agree just as it's ridiculous to say that all regulations are good, it is also ridiculous to say that all regulations are bad. i'm the mother of three children. and i know how important regulations can be to keep our children safe. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady will is not in order. members are asked to take their conversations off the aisle. the gentlewoman may proceed. ms. esty: thank you, mr. speaker. congress passed a bill to strengthen standards on baby cribs. regulations prohibited drop side cribs and required new cribs to have stronger mattress support. and do you know why? to save rifes. there were devastating instances of children suffocating and dying because of drop side cribs. clearly this regulation is critical to our children's

safety, but unfortunately the bill before us today would delay the implementation of safety regulations, like baby crib standards, and safety regulations like those that prohibit the sales of contaminated food from china here in america. like rat meat labeled as lamb in shanghai and the chinese chicken, likely infected with bird blue. americans have the right to know that the food they're feeding their families is safe and that's why the bill before us today just doesn't make sense. delaying all regulations across the board and preventing the federal government from rapidly responding to situations even when the american people are asking for safeguards is dangerous and harmful. and this ideologically driven bill does not just harm americans by derailing safety regulations. this bill would also weaken and delay regulations that are important to our economy. regulations that protect consumers and small businesses.

folks, we are just six weeks away from when tax returns are due. why would we pass a bill that may delay provisions that save taxpayers money? why would we get in the way when taxpayers want their refunds and rebates returned quickly? but not only that. this bill would delay regulations that would help ensure women receive equal pay for equal work. this bill would weaken regulations that could help protect small businesses against predatory loans and hinder job growth. this bill would delay protections that would help ensure that workplace environments are safe for all workers. and this bill would delay our efforts to speed up veterans receiving their benefits. and something that's particularly important in my state in my district where folks are concerned about fatal accidents and service delays on the metro north railroad, this bill would delay the very regulation that will help ensure that metro north is safe

and timely for commuters. on time safe rail service is critical to our state's economy, and this bill could jeopardize that. my district, connecticut's economy and our nation's economy cannot afford this ideological destructive bill -- ideological, destructive bill. mr. speaker, i'm here to offer an amendment, an amendment that would help make this bill work better for families and small businesses. i was sent to congress to get things done, and i'm working to eliminate and streamline unnecessary regulations and help cut through red tape and save taxpayers money. at the same time, though, we know that smart regulations save money and save lives. i hear all the time from people back home that washington isn't working for them and that they're sick and tired of partisan gridlock. my constituents want washington to be responsive to their needs and to get things done.

and that's why i oppose this bill. it unnecessarily delays our ability to act swiftly and decisively. my amendment would work to make sure that smart regulations are not weakened or delayed. regulations that could save taxpayers money, that could help small businesses, that expedite veterans' benefits, that protect our familiarly's safety and the safety of our food supply and could prevent pay discrimination just because you're a woman or because of your race or sexual orientation. we were sent here to work together to help the american people, not to engage in ideological battle. let's do the right thing. let's do the responsible thing. i ask all house members to join with me to vote for this motion, and i yield back the alance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from virginia seek recognition? mr. goodlatte: i rise in opposition to the motion.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. mr. goodlatte: mr. speaker, i want to thank congressman holding, collins and subcommittee chairman bachus for their hard work on this bill, as well as committee staff on both sides of the aisle. four bills combined into one and still under 100 pages will do much to reform and in some cases eliminate hundreds of thousands of pages of federal government regulation in the future. mr. speaker, we are more than five years into the obama administration. real unemployment is still a massive problem in this country. america's labor force participation is at record lows. the nominal unemployment rate is down, but that is only because desperate americans dying for work are abandoning the work force in droves. everybody knows that the only real long-term solution is to restart the engines of economic

growth in this country. if we could just somehow increase our growth rate by as little as two additional percentage points, things would begin to turn around. one way to do that is to pass the alert act. the cost of federal regulation today is estimated to be a staggering $1.86 trillion. that almost wipes out the $2 trillion this nation's manufacturers have just produced. the first time in history we hit that level in one year. there is 2% growth rate there. and tyrannical regulation is flowing out of washington -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is correct. the house is not in order. the gentleman from virginia can proceed. mr. goodlatte: if we could cut our regulatory burdens by a portion, we could turn this economy right around. the alert act would do that.

it promises real relief from our regulatory nightmare. if enacted it would change night to day in terms of the level of regulatory costs washington imposes on our economy, and it would do so without stopping one needed regulation from being issued. how do i know? because it says so right in the bill, right on page 27 it says, the agencies shall adopt the least costly rule considered during the rulemaking that meets relevant statutory objectives. take away a few key words and what does that say? the agencies shall adopt the rule that meets statutory objectives. so the rules will still be made and statutory goals will still be met, but put the key words back in and what happens, america starts to save hundreds of billions of dollars that doesn't need to spend because the agencies shall adopt the least costly rule that meets statutory objectives. do that over and over again and

that's real money that we'll save, real money that can produce jobs for our constituents, real money that hardworking americans can use to grow their businesses without stopping a single needed regulation from being issued. my friends across the aisle say that won't happen. they say the bill will bring all good rulemaking to a screeching halt. my goodness. it's obamacare all over again. my friends across the aisle haven't read the bill. you have to read the bill to know what's in it. if you read the bill you understand, you see there on page 27 the agencies shall adopt the rule that meets statutory objectives. my friends, the people in my district and yours are smart. they can read the bill. they can tell who -- they can tell that although chicken little and the boy who cried wolf seem to want to talk about this bill, the sky is not falling and the wolf is not coming on account of this bill. what is coming on account of this bill is real relief for hardworking americans and

prosperity around the corner. vote against this motion to recommit. vote for this bill. take americans' hard-earned dollars out of the hands of washington bureaucrats who want to flush it down the regulatory drain. let it stay in the hands of workers and business owners who know how to spend it wisely and well. oppose the motion to recommit, support the legislation. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the previous question is ordered. the question is on the motion to recommit. those in favor say aye. those opposed will say no. in the opinion of the chair, the noes have it. ms. esty: mr. speaker, i request a recorded vote. the speaker pro tempore: a recorded vote is requested. those favoring a recorded vote will rise. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. pursuant to clause 9 of rule 20, this five-minute vote on

the motion to recommit will be followed by a five-minute vote on passage of the bill, if ordered. this is a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 187. the nays are 229. the motion is not adopted.

the question is on passage of the bill. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. >> ask for a recorded vote. the speaker pro tempore: a recorded vote is requested. those favoring a recorded vote will rise. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 236. the nays are 179. the bill is passed. without objection the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table.

for what purpose does the gentleman from north carolina -- >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that the clerk be authorized to make technical corrections in the engrossment of h.r. 2804, including corrections in spelling, punctuation, section, and title numbering, cross-referencing, conforming amendments to the table of contents an short titles, an insertion of appropriate headings. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and submit extraneous material for the record on h.r. 3193, the consumer financial freedom and washington accountability act. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. pursuant to house resolution 475 and rule 18, the chair declares the house in the committee of the whole house on the state of

the union for the consideration of h.r. 3193. the chair appoints the gentleman from wisconsin, mr. ribble, to preside over the committee of the whole. the chair: the house is in the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for consideration of h.r. 3193, which the clerk will report by title. the clerk: a bill to amend the consumer financial protection act of 2010 to strengthen the review authority of the financial stability oversight council of regulations issued by the bure he row of consumer financial protection, and for other purposes. the chair: pursuant to the rule, the bill is considered as read the first time. the gentleman from texas, mr. hensarling, and the gentlewoman from california, ms. waters, will each control 30 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas. mr. hensarling: mr. chairman, i recognize myself for as much time as i may consume.

the chair: without objection. mr. hensarling: mr. chairman, we are now into the sixth year of the obama administration and probably the two most common comments i hear from my constituents, i just can't make ends meet in this economy. and washington has become arrogant, unaccountable, and out of touch. and at the apex of these sentiments lies the newly minted dodd-frank government agency known as the cfpb. although many have yet to hear of it, the cfpb is perhaps the single most powerful and least accountable federal agency in all of washington. first, let's speak of its power. mr. chairman, when it comes to our credit cards, auto loans, mortgages, the cfpb has unbridled correctionary -- discretionary power, not only to make them less available and more expensive, but to absolutely take them away. what does an agency with this

kind of power do? it imposes rules like the qualified mortgage rule, or q.m. for short. mr. chairman, what does q.m. do? according to federal reserve data, because of q.m. roughly 1/ of black and hispanic -- 1/3 of black an hispanic borrowers would not meet the requirements of a q.m. loan. mr. chairman, 1/3. core logic, which analyzes mortgage data, has said, quote, only half, only half of today's mortgage originations meet q.m. requirements. that is egregiously unfair to hardworking americans. one of my smalltown community bankers in east texas told me recently, because of q.m., quote, i can't tell you the number of times we have had to tell our good, low to moderate income customers that we can no longer loan them money to purchase a home to live in. so, mr. chairman, this is what

an agency with too much discretionary power does. it can actually abuse consumers, taking away their homeownership opportunities. that's unfair. let's look at what happens to an agency that's not held accountable. today, today the cfpb is spending $145 million to renovate a $150 million headquarter building they don't even own. and the renovation rate is three times, three times the average washington, d.c., luxury class a renovation rate. well, what does $145 million buy? $461 per square foot in office renovations.

mr. chairman, that is more, more per square foot than was spent to build the trump world tower. ore than the trump world tower. and at $461 per square foot, that was more money than it cost to spend to build the llagio hotel and casino in las vegas, which i'm told at the time it was the most expensive hotel ever built. and mr. chairman, this is more money to renovate a building hey don't own than dubai's khalifa, and the chitectual firm that built the it in dubai is the world

renowned firm that the cfpb paid over $7 million to design their headquarter renovations. now, according to public documents, mr. chairman, some of the bureau's renovations nclude, quote, a core kneelian granite water table that will, quote, lure in the curious passerby. also, for $145 million of hard-earned taxpayer money, the bureau is buying, quote, a shady tree bosk, unquote, to facilitate, quote, chance interactions in a removed place of rest and contemplation. i mean, i can't make this up, mr. chairman. this is how hard-earned money is being squandered. here it is. the architecture drawings, which have been filed publicly.

i got to tell you, mr. chairman, i got a lot of people in my district in east texas who live in mobile homes. they can't afford core kneelian granite water tables that apparently the cfpb is going to enjoy, that my constituents have to pay for and the only shady tree bosk to be found in east texas in the fifth district are those where hardworking ranchers work their cattle. instead of the rest and contemplation to be enjoyed by cfpb's employees, because of such blatant waste, my constituents, instead of rest and contemplation, lay awake at night wondering how they're going to pay the bills and make ends meet. mr. chairman, this is what an unaccountable federal government agency does. it squanders the people's money because it is not their own and they're not accountable to the people's representatives.

so that's why we're here today, mr. chairman. we're here to pass h.r. 3193, the consumer financial protection and soundness improvement act. the primary author, mr. duffy of washington, has done excellent work, along with many other members of our committee. this is a package, mr. chairman, of commonsense reforms designed to make the cfpb more accountable, more transparent to the american people. the bill replaces the bureau's single unaccountable director with a bipartisan board. it puts the bureau's employees, whose compensation and benefits them $178,521, it puts on the civil service pay scale. it introduces a safety and soundness check on its regulations and gives the american people greater control over the massive, massive quantity its of personal financial data -- quantities of personal financial data that the bureau is collecting and maintaining on them at this

time. mr. chairman, we do need consumer protection, but consumers don't only need to be protected from wall street but also from washington as well. h.r. 3193 will protect them from the cfpb, and the house should pass it without delay today. i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman reserves. the gentlewoman from california, ms. waters, is recognized. ms. waters: thank you very much, mr. chairman. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the chair: the gentlelady is recognized. ms. waters: i rise today in strong opposition to h.r. 3193, legislation that would cut the consumer financial protection bureau, an agency that has been a critical and effective advocate for our nation's consumers. today's vote is just the latest apter in a releptless -- relentless republican attack on

consumer protection. the cfpb has gone to bat for those who have been subject to the deceptive practices of unscrupulous financial institutions, and though it has been immensely successful, republicans have tried to undercut it in every way possible. mr. chairman, in just over two years, cfpb's enforcement actions have resulted in over $3 billion being directly refunded to more than 9.7 million consirmse and service members. the -- consumers and service members. the cfpb has ensured that all consumers have fair and transparent access to consumer financial products and services. it has written important mortgage rules that prevent lenders from engaging in the risky and irresponsible practices that led to the collapse of the housing market and fueled the 2008 global financial crisis.

and it continues to go after industries and institutions that for years have not been held accountable for abusive and deceptive practices. the cfpb ensures that the tens of millions of consumers who interact with large consumer reporting agencies, debt collectors, payday lenders and nonbanks originating mortgage loans have an advocate in their corner. in fact in fiscal year 2013, the cfpb was a party in 13 enforcement actions related to deceptive marketing, unlawful debt collection, discrimination on the basis of age, unlawful charging of fees and fraudulent mortgage relief schemes, among other violations. since the consumer financial protection bureau opened its doors, more than 269,000 individual consumer complaints have been received, and it has stood up for our nation's

active duty military who so bravely serve us, returning more than $12.5 million to them under the military lending act. just yesterday cfpb announced a lawsuit against a large for-profit college chain accusing it of preying on students by pushing them into high-cost loans very likely to end in default. but my friends on the opposite side of the aisle don't believe that we should have a consumer advocate in government. they would prefer that these unscrupulous actors continue to take advantage of consumers without interference. and the simple fact is that h.r. 3193 would accomplish this goal, obstructing the cfpb's ability to protect consumers from deceptive marketing, unlawful debt collection, lending discrimination,

overcharged fees and other illegal activities. the bill does so by undermining its s leadership, ending autonomy and tying it to congressional appropriations, among other ways. in fact, republicans have brought this bill to the floor claiming a cost savings, but they know that the only way a savings is realized is by slashing the budget of the cfpb, the sole agency charged with consumer financial protection, but that's not al. the provisions included in this -- but that's not all. the provisions included in this measure would be in favor of some five-member commission that would increase reaucracy, encouraging in-fighting and encurvered on taking action on behalf of consumers. it would water down the cfpb's rulemaking authority by lowering the bar for overturning its rules, and many of the amendments offered today would make this bill even

worse. for example, the measure offered by congressman desantis would repeal the bureau's exclusive rulemaking authority, dispursing responsibility for protecting consumers among the same regulators who failed miserablely in this task in the runup to the financial crisis. its striking to listen to my friends on the opposite side of the aisle talk about the importance of consumer protection and then push a measure that is an obvious attempt to completely undermine and obstruct the cfpb's ability to protect consumers, students, seniors and service members. if holding the bureau accountable to its mission to protect american consumers, truly is the republicans' goal, then why are we considering a bill which is strongly opposed by more than 100 organizations with long records of standing up for the interests of

consumers? so i would urge my colleagues to oppose this damaging measure so the cfpb can continue its outstanding work. so thank you and i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentlelady reserves. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. hensarling: mr. chairman, i'm now happy to yield two minutes to the gentlelady from west virginia, the distinguished chairman of our financial institutions and consumer credit subcommittee and a real leader in preserving consumer opportunity and rights. the chair: the gentlewoman from west virginia is recognized for two minutes. mrs. capito: thank you, mr. chairman. i'd like to thank the chairman of our committee for his leadership and for yielding me time this afternoon. i'd also like to thank my colleague, mr. duffy, mr. bachus and mr. neugebauer for their leadership in drafting the components of this bill before us today. as we've heard, the debate before us today is not new. we have been working for the past three years to enact commonsense structural reforms to the cfpb, but during vote in

the last congress, our friends on the other side of the aisle said it's premature to reform this burgeoning agency. they said it's too early to tell how the bureau would operate. well, 2 1/2 years later, this is what we know. the bureau continues to be unresponsive to bipartisan requests for information about their operations. for example, last spring the bureau released guidance for indirect auto lending practices. over the last year, republican and democrat members have requested information both in person and in writing about the data the bureau used to support their guidance. despite these requests, despite these requests, the bureau refuses to provide substantive answers to the members' questions. over the last year, members, and i have, in particular, expressed significant concern about the cfpb's new rules will have on mortgage availability for low to moderate income borrowers. despite this, the cfpb has moved forward with the rule, and we have also heard the bureau is spending over $100 million to renovate its

headquarters. as we learned, the renovation per square foot will cost more than building the trump world tower and the bellagio. the agency is unaccountable to congress and the american citizens. leading this to a bipartisan commission will ensure there is a diversity of opinion as the agency crafts new rules, no matter who the president is. a more diverse leadership structure will result in more balanced rules that provide consumers with sufficient transparency to choose the financial products that best suits their need. we are also bringing greater accountable to this agency by putting the bureau on the regular appropriations schedule. budgetary control is a critical tool for this congress is, no matter the -- who the president is, to make sure it truly benefits consumers. i thank the sponsors for their hard work and i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentlewoman yields back the balance of her time. the gentlewoman from california is recognized. ms. waters: i yield to the gentlewoman from new york and ranking member on the

subcommittee on capital markets and government-sponsored enterprises, mrs. maloney. mrs. maloney: i thank the gentlelady for yielding and for her hard work on the financial services committee, and i rise in strong opposition to h.r. 3193. the chair: the gentlelady is recognized for three minutes. mrs. maloney: i rise in strong opposition to h.r. 3193 which is a blatantly partisan result on the cfpb and on american consumers. i think it's telling that just four months after the first government shutdown in 17 years, the republicans want to remove the cfpb's independent source of funding and subject it to congress' deeply dysfunctional appropriations process. it's telling because it exposes the true purpose of this bill. it's not to make the cfpb more accountable but rather to undermine, defund and hinder its ability to act to protect

consumers in every possible way. the dysfunction that led to last year's 16-day shutdown is exactly why we gave the cfpb an independent source of funding in dodd-frank. we wanted to insulate the cfpb from the political games and partisan brinksmanship that unfortunately became a staple of the appropriations process. another key reason for creating the cfpb was to make sure that we have at least one regulator whose sole purpose is protecting consumers. prior to the financial crisis, consumer protection had unfortunately become an afterthought of the banking regulators whose primary mission was protecting the safety and soundness of the banks but not consumers. when congress created the cfpb, the whole point was to create a regulator whose sole focus is

protecting consumers. the reason congress did this was because prior to the financial crisis, consumers were an afterthought, a secondary thought, a third thought or usually not thought about at all, so it's a huge step forward to have a department that's focused on protecting consumers from new products that were harmful and innovations that were not tested, that were harmful to the consumers and the economy as a whole, which led to the financial crisis. this was a huge step forward for consumers when we created it. unfortunately, this bill before us today is a huge step backwards because it would give the safety and soundness regulators more authority to veto the cfpb's consumer protections in the name of bank profits, just like in the old days. let's remember that in just its first 2 1/2 years, the cfpb has alread